*{Anti-Americanism: What's New, What's Next? [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/Anti-Americanism%3A%20What's%20New%2C%20What's%20Next%3F?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300]

            01.02.2002

            Annual Meeting 2002}

            Hostility to the United States is hardly a new phenomena, yet the multiple sources, and symptoms, of anti-Americanism make it difficult to arrive at an accurate diagnosis, much less a cure. However, the events of 11 September not withstanding, Americans shouldn’t conclude a new and more virulent strain of the disease is sweeping the globe, most participants agreed at this working breakfast.

            Moisés Naim, Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy magazine, USA, listed and described several distinct types of anti-Americanism, each reflecting a different facet of America’s role in the world. These include:

            Historical anti-Americanism. Past US actions, such as the Vietnam War, have left behind a lingering distrust of American power among many who opposed those interventions.

            Current anti-Americanism. US policies continue to generate hostility in certain quarters. Widespread anger in the Arab world over America’s support for Israel is only the most prominent example.

            Cultural anti-Americanism. Liberals object to US support for capital punishment, while social traditionalists recoil from permissive US attitudes towards feminism and homosexuality.

            Psychological anti-Americanism. Simple envy over the wealth and economic dynamism of the US may be a powerful source of resentment, particularly in the less developed countries, Naim suggested.

            Still, it is easy to overestimate anti-American sentiment, even in perceived hotbeds such as the Middle East, argued Abdel Monem Said Aly, Director, al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Egypt. A lack of objective polling data makes it hard to determine the true state of public opinion in many countries, he argued. His own, admittedly unscientific observations, he said, suggest global hostility is primarily directed at specific US policies, not at America or the American people.

            "Ask anyone in Egypt what country they would like to visit, and they will probably say America." Aly said. "Ask them what movie they would like to see and it will probably be an American film. Ask them what school they would like to attend and they will name an American university. They may disagree violently with American policies, but they don’t hate America. This is the paradox."

            The danger, Aly added, is that America’s fear of anti-Americanism might lead to an overly confrontational response, much as widespread perceptions of hostility led many Germans to support an aggressive foreign policy in the early years of the 20th century, ultimately leading to World War I. "It’s easy to think: ‘People hate us so much because we are so superior," Aly said. "That can lead to some very racist attitudes." 

            Distinguishing between the spurious and the valid sources of anti-Americanism can be difficult, even for those who try to approach the issue rationally, said Nicolas Frances, Executive Director for Australia and New Zealand, Brotherhood of St Lawrence, Australia. While Americans may believe their intentions are good, the rest of the world sees an arrogant superpower determined to impose its will on the world. "America clearly intends to do good, but only on its own terms. And it is the terms that I find frightening," Frances said.

            In the end, participants agreed that US power is the common denominator which will shape popular attitudes towards America, for better or worse. Other countries may share America’s cultural permissiveness, or may have wielded imperial power in the past. Yet, they are not targets of widespread hostility. "The simple fact is that America has more influence on the way people live in the world than, say, the Netherlands or Great Britain," Naim noted. "This all about power, about hegemony."

            America’s most fanatical opponents are clearly beyond reason, Naim concluded. Still, better communication might dispel some of the more obvious myths about America, while making it possible to debate legitimate policy disagreements. But communication is a two-way process, Aly noted. "We expect the Americans to understand all of our countries," he said. "But we never ask ourselves if we understand them."

                  *{Contributors:       Francis Nicolas
                  Naim Moisés
                  Quelch John A.
                  Said Aly Abdel Monem}