Anti-Americanism

These last years the U.S.’s image around the world has been deteriorating. According to a new poll by the BBC conducted in 18 countries, only 29 percent of the people interviewed believed the U.S. was a positive influence in the world. That’s not really surprising, considering America’s current foreign policy, but resentment against America has always existed in some form. But is this resentment justified? The short answer is yes.

To understand why a group of people has a certain point of view you can’t examine the situation only from your historical context and culture. You need to attempt, as hard as it is, to understand what conditions led to the development of that perspective.

The U.S. is an empire. It’s an economic, political, cultural and, arguably, military empire. The world’s economy and the U.N. are subordinate to American interests, and the invasion of American culture in other countries is undeniable. Everywhere around the world American movies and songs are being played, McDonald’s is being patronized, and English is being learned. Because of this imperialistic nature there will be resentment from other countries. It’s a form of cultural affirmation and independence. The same way colonial Americans resented Britain in the 18th century, people from other countries hold a certain grudge towards America and the power it exerts over the world.

Another component in this resentment is the constant hypocrisy in America’s history. Ever since America established itself as an independent nation it has preached some values that it considered essential, particularly liberty, justice and objecting totalitarianism. These values, although preached, have been consistently secondary to national interests.

As an example, America claims to despise totalitarian regimes, but in practice it’s another story. If the U.S. is, and wants to be seen as, a bastion of freedom why did during the Cold War it support a series of coups d’état in South America that replaced democratically elected leftist governments for brutal military dictatorships? During this traumatic period death squads were in action, tens of thousands of people were killed and the military regularly practiced torture with methods taught by the U.S.. Students and artists considered “subversive” were targeted. That explains in part the resentment the student movement in South America has against America. The coups might have happened if the U.S. wasn’t involved, but history has been made and America is an accomplice.

Of course, both the imperialistic nature and the political hypocrisy only relate to the U.S. as an institution. It would be wrong to blame individual Americans for the result of foreign policy and events passed, and it’s rare to find people who do that. But theoretically the people are somewhat responsible for their governments, especially in a democracy.

Resentment towards the U.S. is justified, albeit not constructive. But it’s the U.S. who holds the key to diminish this attitude, because in the eyes of other nations America is the current empire exerting power over them. Mistakes will happen, and you are always under more scrutiny if you hold power. Because of that America needs to be humble and avoid self-righteousness.

Just because the U.S. is the only remaining superpower doesn’t mean it should act irresponsibly or ignore its mistakes from the past, and there are plenty of them. That is bad foreign policy, and against America’s interests because it breeds hate. To truly achieve an ethical coexistence in the international level the U.S. needs to practice what it preaches, and understand how its power affects people around the world. It should constructively use that power, avoid acting unilaterally, and respect other countries cultures and interests.