Anti-Americanism: spontaneous reaction or ideology?

Submitted by Stephen (Japan), Jan 14, 2003 at 11:33

Linking the European system with Islamic fundamentalism based simply on the strong role of government seems far-fetched. The European and Anglo-American systems are vastly closer in terms of fundamental values. However, the idea of two distinct, competing systems is compelling. There does seem to be a substantial power issue at stake on the European side. In the Iraq crisis we see a reflexive, irrational opposition to American power, expressed in the use of the word "unilateral." (In reality, actions should be judged by whether they are correct or not, not whether they are "unilateral" or not.) This opposition is felt strongly enough to obscure the question of whether we can accept a nuclear-armed Saddam Hussein.

The problem is that the Islamicist threat is still not strongly enough understood – by either side, but especially by the European one. As I think Dr. Pipes has pointed out, the bureaucratic-left ideology presumes that all problems can be solved by negotiation, and rejects the use of military force. Yet to believe this requires viewing Europe as a self-contained system, not under any outside threat.

My question is whether anti-Americanism is primarily a learned "ideology," or whether it emerges spontaneously in all regions of the world because of the superpower status of the US. I suspect that a lot of it is in fact ideological, and that Islamicism is influenced by left-wing anti-Americanism in this sense. (Note how the recent alleged Bin Laden letter appended all the usual European complaints to the core Al Qaeda ones - as if Bin Laden cares about CO2 emissions!) I would be interested if anyone had collected evidence of the transmission of anti-American sentiments internationally.

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