By Brian Birdnow
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Early this past week the Associated Press previewed
Secretary of State John Kerry’s Latin American trip by predicting that the
Secretary would face a “Frosty” reception in Brazil and Colombia as he seeks to
“deepen relations” with the two south American powers. Brazilian leaders are
upset over the likelihood that the American NSA eavesdropping program may have
targeted U.S. allies as well as foes, and that confidential Brazilian
communications may have been compromised. The Colombians also expressed
displeasure over the American intelligence gathering and charge that it
overstepped the two countries joint intelligence operations against drug
trafficking and terrorist activities. Secretary Kerry, for his own part,
believes that the trip is vitally important in terms of shoring up our national
image in the face of growing and increasingly vocal anti-Americanism in the
southern hemisphere.
When one considers growing anti-Americanism in Latin
America and adds it to the latent anti-Americanism in other parts of the world
it is clearly unsettling. We see rising anti-Americanism in Egypt, continued
jihadist sentiment in much of the Middle East and Central Asia, blatant
provocations emanating from Russia, and the Chinese treating this
Administration with a measure of disdain bordering on contempt. This clearly
portends trouble ahead in the future.
Wasn’t this all supposed to end? We were told, and many
Americans believed, that the election of Barack Obama, the candidate of hope
and change, would restore America’s good name, and usher in a new epoch of
international trust, co-operation, and goodwill. It wasn’t clear if this would
happen before the sea levels dropped, or after everyone could pay their
mortgages and buy new cars, but we were assured that it was coming. After all,
the big problem in the world was the unnecessary American muscle flexing of
2001-2008 and the embarrassing bluster and swaggering of that damned fool Texan
in the White House. Yes, George W. Bush had really made a mess of things, as we
were told regularly by late night television jokesters, and most probably by a
rodeo clown or two, at various state fairs.
When the new regime came into office in January 2009 they
pledged that they would undo the damage caused by Bush and his Republican
yahoos. Then –Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that she would hit the
“reset” button in relations with Russia, and so what if she garbled the
translation. President Obama began his widely derided “Apology Tour”, wherein
he begged pardon for America’s past misdeeds and bowed to foreign leaders. This
was supposed to change everything.
Now, five-and –one-half years into the Obama Era, we
confront rising anti-Americanism around the world and ponder: What went wrong?
Perhaps the rest of the world has now found Secretary Kerry as dislikable as
the American people found him in 2004. This proposition is obviously open to
debate, but clearly anti-Americanism is not going to disappear anytime soon.
While America has been a beacon and a symbol of hope to millions throughout our
national history, the flip side of this optimistic representation has been a
latent anti-Americanism that has taken different forms, but has existed since
1789.
In the early 1790s this impulse expressed itself as
condescension for the real weakness of the United States of America. Gouverneur
Morris, chief American diplomat abroad during this period recalled attending
diplomatic receptions in various European capitals. When asked what nation he
represented he said that his fellow diplomats and their families could barely
contain their laughter and derision when he responded that he represented the
USA. This early anti-Americanism was based on the supposition that America was
a ridiculous country, constantly verging on anarchy at home, and commanding no
respect abroad. Morris reflected on the fact that anti-Americanism existed then
not as hatred, but more along the lines of mockery and pity.
As America grew stronger and more established the world
developed a new anti-American stereotype, that of the illiterate and
unsophisticated rube. The classic image of the American, circa 1830-1890 was
that of a gangly hillbilly, usually barefooted and blithely unaware of his
uncouth nature. This image was, in fact, a subtheme of the stage play “Our
American Cousin” which President and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln and their guests
attended at Ford’s Theater on the fateful evening of April 14, 1865. In any
event, this anti-Americanism was also a comical commentary on the supposed ill
manners and buffoonery of the average American citizen.
This characterization changed once again as American
strength waxed toward the end of the nineteenth century. While astute observers
such as King Edward VII of Britain and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany spoke of
their unease at the breathtaking development of American strength and power at
the turn of the twentieth century the popular image of the American was that of
the Nouveau Riche plutocrat intent on buying up the world. The anti-American
popular press in Europe delighted in characterizing the American moneyed
classes as simple parvenu rich men who eagerly married off their beautiful
daughters to penniless Dukes, Counts, and lesser worthies, hoping to buy their
way into respectability and social position. This brand of anti-Americanism was
also based on ridicule, but was combined with the uneasy realization that America
was strong and rich and growing more so every day.
Finally, after 1919, the anti-American impulse reached
full flower. America was now the strongest and most powerful nation in the
world. As such, we had earned the natural resentment that historically has
followed the big kid on the block. We were the Romans of the twentieth century
and all of the barbarians resented our wealth and power. Nothing could change
this simple fact, as the British had found in the nineteenth century. Great
power and strength bring resentment and envy, as Rudyard Kipling presciently
noted in 1899.
Today the anti-American imperative is more complex. The
jihadists hate us for our supposed paganism, although that is much more a
question of which God we choose to worship. Much of the non-Muslim
anti-Americanism is based on the idea that Americans are insular and
unsophisticated, that we are rotted by luxury, and that our wealth and
dedication to easy living is paired with an appalling lack of social conscience
and concern for the welfare of the less fortunate. In short, anti-Americanism
today dovetails nicely with the thinking of much of the American Left.
So, we can see that anti-Americanism is not a problem
that developed out of a reckless cowboy in the White House. It has existed, in
various incarnations, for over two centuries. No one should scoff at President
Obama’s stated hope that he and his State Department might improve America’s
image around the world. It is a laudable goal. It will, however, be a tall
order, and one that cannot be accomplished by mere good intentions and
grandiose, pompous fantasies.
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