Soft Power and American Foreign Policy

Abstract

Anti-Americanism has increased in past few years. Thomas Pickering, a seasoned diplomat, considered 2003 high a zenith of anti Americanism as we've seen for a long time.1 Polls show that our soft power losses can be traced largely to our foreign policy. widespread and fashion able view is that United States is a classically imperialist power. ... That mood has been expressed in different ways by different people, from hockey fans in Montreal who boo American national anthem to high school students in Switzerland who do not want to go to United States as exchange students.2 An Australian observer concluded that the lesson of Iraq is that US's soft power is in decline. Bush went to war having failed to win a broader military coalition or UN authorization. This had two direct conse quences: a rise in anti-American sentiment, lifting terrorist recruitment; and a higher cost to US for war and reconstruction effort.3 A Gallup Interna tional poll showed that pluralities in fifteen out of twenty-four countries around world said that American foreign policies had a negative effect on their attitudes toward United States. A Eurobarometer poll found that a majority of Europeans believe that United States tends to play a negative role in fighting global poverty, protecting environment, and maintaining peace in world.4 When asked in a Pew