Abstract
Existing studies propose that anti-Americanism in the Arab region is fueled by American interventions, citizens’ religion, and relative deprivation. However, these three have not been addressed simultaneously or integrated into one framework. This study does so by developing and testing a context-dependent framework. Empirically, we apply multilevel regression to 32 Global Attitudes Project and 34 Arab Barometer surveys that cover more than 58,000 respondents. Contrasting dominant understandings, we find that American interventions fuel both political and societal anti-Americanism and that relatively deprived citizens are not more anti-American. Moreover, our results show (highly religious) Muslims are more politically and societally anti-American than (less religious) non-Muslims, particularly in Arab countries with fewer (highly religious) Muslims and American interventions. Altogether, anti-Americanism is context-dependent and shaped by different but interconnected mechanisms.
Highlights
Anti-Americanism is widespread in the Arab Middle East and North Africa (MENA): 60% of citizens in Lebanon, 70% in Palestine, and over 80% in Jordan view the United States unfavorably (Pew Research Center, 2015)
Countering this view of anti-Americanism as a rational evaluation that is caused by American actions, the other two theoretical strands emphasize Arab citizens themselves and social constructions, one focuses more on culture and the other on structure
Our results show that societal anti-Americanism is still clearly present and the gap between political and societal anti-Americanism is considerably smaller than previously suggested
Summary
Anti-Americanism is widespread in the Arab Middle East and North Africa (MENA): 60% of citizens in Lebanon, 70% in Palestine, and over 80% in Jordan view the United States unfavorably (Pew Research Center, 2015). Chomsky, 2002; Parker, 1988; Pitchford, 2011; Tessler, 2003) Countering this view of anti-Americanism as a rational evaluation that is caused by American actions, the other two theoretical strands emphasize Arab citizens themselves and social constructions, one focuses more on culture and the other on structure. The former proposes that Arab citizens’ religion is used to construct and reinforce antagonistic boundaries between “the secular-Christian United States” and “the religious-Islamic Arab region” (Huntington, 1993, 1996). The latter proposes that deprived Arab citizens construct the United States antagonistically by scapegoating the US for their personal (socio-economic or political) predicament (Gurr, 1970; Tessler and Robbins, 2007)
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