Anti-Americanism

Anti-Americanism is a set of opinions, attitudes, and behaviors expressing criticism or hostility toward the United States. It refers to American culture, values, society, economy, and politics and is expressed in various ways—from mild distrust to actual terrorist attacks. Anti-Americanism emerged at the outset of European settlement in America and has been present ever since, evolving from cultural criticism through the phase of fear of American economic and political hegemony to the global era, in which the previous objections coexist with those resulting from international value conflicts. Moreover, since globalization is often identified with Americanization, anti-American sentiment has gained strength and visibility with the rise of the antiglobalization movement. Therefore, it is an important and influential phenomenon in the contemporary world.

Anti-Americanism as a coherent collection of negative ideas and prejudices appeared in the 18th century. In this period, critical views were predominantly culturally oriented and based on the belief in American inferiority to Europe. Antipathy toward America was preserved and spread by European writers in a number of critical commentaries. America was accused of lack of taste and civility, and Americans were portrayed as backward and uncouth. In the late 18th century, the “degeneracy theory” was formed. It assumed that the American land was hostile to both humankind and animals. Defenders of this theory claimed that unfavorable climate, humidity, tornados, earthquakes, and other adverse natural phenomena unknown in Europe made people and animals physically weaker. As a consequence, they maintained, it was impossible to create an advanced civilization on the American continent. Several decades later, another cultural objection was raised. It aimed at American materialism and [Page 43]industrialism, which were seen as in opposition to European sensibilities and refinement.

In the 19th century, the natural environment was replaced by national character as the explanation for American inferiority. European intellectuals stated that the democratic experiment in America was a failure. According to them, renouncement of monarchy, aristocracy, an official religion, and a rigid class system led to the degradation of society and culture. The United States was considered to be a threat to Europe as it could serve as a bad example to European states. This fear was animated greatly by memories of the French Revolution and the terror brought by an attempt to create a state based on abstract principles.

The next stage of anti-Americanism was of a largely political nature. After the American Civil War, uneasiness about American influence on the rest of the world increased, especially after the American victory over Spain in 1898 and later after both world wars. The United States proved to be a global superpower. During the Cold War, anti-Americanism was propagated mainly in communist environments; nevertheless, events such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War spread concern about American imperial ambitions and the possibility of unjustified use of its power across the world. This concern grew after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the United States became a hegemon in world politics, having no serious rival until a war between Western civilization and the Islamic world was declared after the September 11 terrorist attack. This event initiated a new phase of anti-Americanism that comprises a mixture of old arguments and new ones emerging on the wave of globalization and modernization.

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