European Anti-Americanism Research Articles

Anti-Americanism in Europe: Causes and Consequences

Even though the subject of anti-Americanism has been addressed in the political literature in Europe and other regions of the world, it has sparked enough interest, especially after the tragic events of 11 September, 2001. Americano-phobia and anti-Americanism are the strangest prejudices in modern history and even in theoretical doctrinal principles. Thus, the aim of this article is to understand its source and consequences. We also must be able to see anti- Americanism in Europe as an indicator of European culture, rather than the fault of U.S. policies. Historically, Europeans have been among the strongest friends of the United States, and for many that tradition continues. In the case of Albania "special relationship" remains valid even after Albania appears to be more pro-American nation in the world, followed by Kosovo Albanians. But there is also, a European predisposition to vilify the United States. Then, what is the source of anti-Americanism? This paper elaborates it. To realize this research is used the method of literature and documentation survey making efforts to have objective and accurate sources of information. Through literature review, I tend to explain how to understand anti-Americanism and Americano-phobia, the geographical distribution of anti and pro-American sentiments and above all, to portray the causes and consequences of the European anti-Americanism. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p259

Narratives of Resentment: Notes towards a Literary History of European Anti-Americanism

This essay investigates the history and internal functioning of a specifically literary form of anti-Americanism that for more than two hundred years has played a key role in the propagation of negative images of the United States. Drawing on Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-44), Duhamel's Scénes de la vie future (1930), and Graham Greene's The Quiet American (1955), it analyzes three major narrative paradigms of anti-Americanism literature: the story of the disillusioned emigrant, anti-American futurology, and anti-American tribunalism. On this basis, the essay offers a discussion of fictional literature as a medium for the development and dissemination of anti-Americanism, before concluding by linking literary anti-Americanism to the quest for a common European identity.

Old wine and old bottles: anti-Americanism in Britain, France and Germany

European anti-Americanism is almost as old as the American republic itself. In the contemporary context it mixes older ideological traditions with a new and popular fear and loathing of the United States. It based as much on ignorance of America as rejection of it, and has found a home on the post-modern left. It often mixes anti-Americanism with anti-Semitism in an especially poisonous manner. Despite the passing of the Bush administration anti-Americanism in traditional American allies such as Britain, France and Germany has possibly done irreparable damage to the trans-Atlantic relationship.

The Anti-American as Americanizer: Revisiting the Anti-American Century in Germany

This article contextualizes the recent debates about German and European anti-Americanism by highlighting the paradoxical nature of such sentiments. Using examples from the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, and the postwar period, this article shows that anti-Americanism arose less from divergent cultural trends and perceived "value gaps," as many recent authors have argued. Rather, anti-Americanism should be seen as a measure of America's continued influence and success. After all, anti-Americanism more often than not went hand in glove with "Americanization." Frequently, anti-Americans, namely those who are voicing anti-Americanism, were products of cultural transfer-processes emanating in the U.S. They also saw themselves allied with American anti-establishment forces. Thus, to a degree, anti-Americanism can be seen as by-product of westernization. Although the focus of this article is on Germany, the argument about the complex web of repudiation and embrace can be observed in other European (or even African, Arab, Asian, or South American) contexts as well.

Japan's hollywood boycott movement of 1924

On July 1, 1924, major movie exhibitors in Japan initiated a boycott of Hollywood films. This boycott was one of the manifestations of the anti-American movement, triggered in response to the 1924 ...

Uncouth nation: why Europe dislikes America

Foreword vii Preface xi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Anti-Americanism as a European Lingua Franca 11 Chapter 2: European Anti-Americanism: A Brief Historical Overview 38 Chapter 3: The Perceived Americanization of All Aspects of European Lives: A Discourse of Irritation and Condescension 81 Chapter 4: The Massive Waning of America's Image in the Eyes of Europe and the World 135 Chapter 5: Twin Brothers: European Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism 150 Chapter 6: Anti-Americanism: A Necessary and Welcomed Spark to Jump-start a European Identity? 201 Notes 225 Index 265

The Paradoxes of Anti-Americanism

Pascal Bruckner is one of France's leading "public intellectuals" and novelists, whose work has elicited praise and stirred controversy for almost three decades. This issue of South Central Review includes two essays by Pascal Bruckner, as well as appreciations of is work and contributions by the French "New Philospher" Andre Glucksmann, Luc Ferry, a philosopher and former Minister of Eduction under Jacques Chirac, the French novelist Serge Koster, and Paul Berman, Writer in Residence at New York University and regular contributor to the New Republic, the Village Voice, and other publications. It also includes scholarly contributions dealing with Bruckner's essays and fiction by two American scholars, Ralph Schoolcraft, Nathan Bracher, and one by the South American scholar and poet Eduardo Espina. Bruckner's contributions to the issue examine two controversial topics, European Anti-Americanism and the concept of vulgarity. From Bruckner's perspective, European anti-Americanism constitutes first and foremost a kind of Girardian scapegoating, where all the ills of modernity as well as other flaws—both of which Europe shares—are blamed on the "other". The reasons are several in Bruckner's diagnosis. The most obvious is a resentment and envy of American power and influence. More central is a deep seated European self-loathing that manifests itself in a misguided idealization of formerly colonized people and an overwhelming sense of guilt over the horrors and abuses of Europe's recent past. Bruckner's second contribution, again following a Girardian logic, examines "vulgarity" as a consequence of a "loss of degree" a failure of a legitimate and legitimizing cultural hierarchy that defines social and cultural virtues and makes them broadly acceptable. When cultural hierarchy is absent or in a state of dissolution "vulgarity" extends its reach, and traditional notions of "good" and "bad" become inoperable, and are even subject to inversion.

Introduction: On Pascal Bruckner

Introduction:On Pascal Bruckner Richard J. Golsan Abstract Pascal Bruckner is one of France’s leading “public intellectuals” and novelists, whose work has elicited praise and stirred controversy for almost three decades. This issue of South Central Review includes two essays by Pascal Bruckner, as well as appreciations of is work and contributions by the French “New Philospher” Andre Glucksmann, Luc Ferry, a philosopher and former Minister of Eduction under Jacques Chirac, the French novelist Serge Koster, and Paul Berman, Writer in Residence at New York University and regular contributor to the New Republic, the Village Voice, and other publications. It also includes scholarly contributions dealing with Bruckner’s essays and fiction by two American scholars, Ralph Schoolcraft, Nathan Bracher, and one by the South American scholar and poet Eduardo Espina. Bruckner’s contributions to the issue examine two controversial topics, European Anti-Americanism and the concept of vulgarity. From Bruckner’s perspective, European anti-Americanism constitutes first and foremost a kind of Girardian scapegoating, where all the ills of modernity as well as other flaws—both of which Europe shares—are blamed on the “other”. The reasons are several in Bruckner’s diagnosis. The most obvious is a resentment and envy of American power and influence. More central is a deep seated European self-loathing that manifests itself in a misguided idealization of formerly colonized people and an overwhelming sense of guilt over the horrors and abuses of Europe’s recent past. Bruckner’s second contribution, again following a Girardian logic, examines “vulgarity” as a consequence of a “loss of degree” a failure of a legitimate and legitimizing cultural hierarchy that defines social and cultural virtues and makes them broadly acceptable. When cultural hierarchy is absent or in a state of dissolution “vulgarity” extends its reach, and traditional notions of “good” and “bad” become inoperable, and are even subject to inversion. In an oft-cited passage in André Malraux's great philosophical novel of the Spanish Civil War, L'Espoir (Man's Hope), the Italian aviator Scali asks the Spanish Republican leader Garcia during a lull in the fighting what, in the latter's opinion, is the best thing a man can do with his life. Garcia responds: "Transformer en conscience une expérience aussi large que possible"—"Render into consciousness as broad a range of experience [of life] as possible" (898). Malraux himself certainly aspired to that ideal, being, during the course of his life, a novelist, an art critic, a filmmaker, but also a self-styled revolutionary in French Indochina, a volunteer aviator and fund-raiser for the Spanish Republic, a Resistance fighter against the Nazis during World War II, and finally a Minister of Information and later Minister of Culture under Charles de Gaulle. Since Malraux's time many French intellectuals have sought to live up to Garcia's ideal, in one form or another. Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus certainly come to mind as examples as essayists, novelists (and playwrights) and intellectuels engagés, although neither ever served—or would ever serve—in an official capacity in the French government. More recently, the list includes most visibly—and flamboyantly—the philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, the leader of the "New Philosophers" who emerged in the wake of the French student revolts of 1968. More "public intellectual" than "philosopher" properly speaking (he holds no academic post) Lévy is also a novelist, essayist, filmmaker, director of the publishing house Grasset, political activist—and media darling. Lévy's most recent work, American Verigo, published last year, garnered a good deal of media attention in this country ("BHL," as he is known in France, appeared on the Daily Show, among other spots)—as well as mixed reviews. Another French intellectual who in many ways appears to fulfill Garcia's ideal is Luc Ferry, a distinguished political philosopher (with academic credentials), public intellectual, and, very recently, Minister of Education under Jacques Chirac. Ferry is interviewed in this issue of South Central Review. But perhaps more than either Lévy or Ferry, the figure who in many ways best exemplifies the ideal proposed in Malraux's novel three quarters [End Page 1] of a century ago is Pascal...

The Ambivalences of Vulgarity

Pascal Bruckner is one of France's leading "public intellectuals" and novelists, whose work has elicited praise and stirred controversy for almost three decades. This issue of South Central Review includes two essays by Pascal Bruckner, as well as appreciations of is work and contributions by the French "New Philospher" Andre Glucksmann, Luc Ferry, a philosopher and former Minister of Eduction under Jacques Chirac, the French novelist Serge Koster, and Paul Berman, Writer in Residence at New York University and regular contributor to the New Republic, the Village Voice, and other publications. It also includes scholarly contributions dealing with Bruckner's essays and fiction by two American scholars, Ralph Schoolcraft, Nathan Bracher, and one by the South American scholar and poet Eduardo Espina. Bruckner's contributions to the issue examine two controversial topics, European Anti-Americanism and the concept of vulgarity. From Bruckner's perspective, European anti-Americanism constitutes first and foremost a kind of Girardian scapegoating, where all the ills of modernity as well as other flaws—both of which Europe shares—are blamed on the "other". The reasons are several in Bruckner's diagnosis. The most obvious is a resentment and envy of American power and influence. More central is a deep seated European self-loathing that manifests itself in a misguided idealization of formerly colonized people and an overwhelming sense of guilt over the horrors and abuses of Europe's recent past. Bruckner's second contribution, again following a Girardian logic, examines "vulgarity" as a consequence of a "loss of degree" a failure of a legitimate and legitimizing cultural hierarchy that defines social and cultural virtues and makes them broadly acceptable. When cultural hierarchy is absent or in a state of dissolution "vulgarity" extends its reach, and traditional notions of "good" and "bad" become inoperable, and are even subject to inversion.

European Anti-Americanism and Choices for a European Defense Policy

Since the end of World War II, a strong transatlantic partnership has been a cornerstone of Western geopolitical strategy. This does not mean that transatlantic relations have always been cordial. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was beset by periodic crises and disagreement throughout the Cold War and into the 1990s. Recent disagreements centered on the deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe during the 1980s, and on NATO involvement in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, NATO enjoyed a brief resurgence as its member nations voted unanimously to activate their mutual defense commitments under the North Atlantic Treaty (see Kaplan 2004). However, this was soon eclipsed by the subsequent dispute over U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq, the rancor rising out of which has struck such seasoned observers as Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell as being an order of magnitude worse than from past NATO crises (cited in Pond 2004, ix). Kaplan (2004, ix) describes it as a “near death” experience that threatened “to dissolve an entity that had survived over half a century.” Others argue that the alliance can and should be “saved” from a crisis that “need not be terminal to the political vitality of Atlanticism” (Hodge 2004, x). We suggest that this diplomatic crisis is doubled by a crisis in European confidence in the U.S. which may also be of unprecedented magnitude, and of some duration.

European Anti-Americanism: What's New?

“Nous sommes tous Américains.”We are all Americans. Such was the rallying cry of Jean-Marie Colombani, the editor-in-chief of the French newspaper Le Monde published two days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack against symbols of America's power. He went on to say: “We are all New Yorkers, as surely as John Kennedy declared himself, in 196[3] in Berlin, to be a Berliner.”While Colombani evoked Kennedy's historic declaration for his readers, an even older use of this rhetorical call to solidarity may come to mind. It is Thomas Jeferson's call for unity after America's first taste of two party strife. Leading the opposition forces to victory in the presidential election of 1800, he assured Americans that “we are all Republicans, we are all Federalists”and urged his audience to rise above the differences that many feared might divide the young nation against itself. Clearly, there would have been no need for such a ringing rhetorical call if there had not been an acute sense of difference and division at the time. The same could be said of Colombani's timely expression of solidarity with an ally singled out for a vengeful attack, solely because it had come to represent the global challenge posed by a shared Western way of life. An attack against America was therefore an attack against common values held dear by all who live by standards of democracy and the open society that it implies. But as in Jeferson's case, the rhetorical urgency of the call for solidarity suggested that there were differences and divisions to be transcended, or at least temporarily shunted aside. That sense of difference between the United States and its European allies had always been there during the Cold War, but it was contained by the threat of a common enemy. The end of the Cold War brought the felt need for a reorientation of strategic thinking on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean that, if anything, only sharpened differences and divisions.1

An Inseparable Tandem of European Identity? Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism in the Short and Long Run

Anti-Americanism has been part of Europe's elite discourse at least since the founding of the United States of America in 1776. However, the congruence of antipathy towards America on the mass and elite levels stems largely from events since 1990. While the policies of the administrations of George W. Bush have contributed to this convergence between elite and mass attitudes, its main reasons have been structural. European anti-Americanism has been accompanied by manifestations of anti-Semitism since the nineteenth century. However, the acuity and acerbity of this link is also a phenomenon of the last fifteen years.

A genealogy of anti-americanism [Les intellectuels européens face à l'Amérique

Abstract : "European anti-Americanism did not begin with the Kyoto Protocol or war in Iraq. Political scientist James Ceaser offers a short history of this deep-rooted ideology, from colonial-era theories about biological "degeneracy" to the 20th century thought of Heidegger and Sartre".

Sentyment antyamerykański w stosunkach międzynarodowych

The objective of the article is to analyze the anti-American sentiment in international relations. A chronological systematization of particular stages of the development of anti-Americanism aims to illustrate its evolution and the constantly changing perception of the United States by representatives of different cultural circles. It is worth emphasizing that while European anti-Americanism is based mainly on the philosophical foundations, the Islamic anti-Americanism has its roots mainly in the negative assessment of US foreign policy towards the Middle East region. The first strong wave of anti-Americanism flooded the Middle East in 1967 when the US supported Jews during the six-day war. Each subsequent conflict in the Arab world with US involvement only deepens the antagonisms that have persisted since then. Followers of Islam also have objections towards the culture of the United States, which is to be shallow and expansive. It is worth emphasizing, however, that the anti-American sentiment grew and evolved simultaneously with the state that was being formed, which is why it is not possible to recall only one specific reason that causes the country to have as many opponents. While nineteenth century polemics consisted of almost purely theoretical considerations about the superiority of the Old World over the New World, the reality of twenty-first century terror based on hatred for the US, requires serious actions from American diplomacy.