This book argues against the tendency to see America as the worst or best nation and instead presents a case for seeing anti-Americanism as a counterproductive prejudice. There are many reasons to criticise American policies, politics and even society, but a crucial distinction must be drawn between criticism and prejudice. Charting the development and adaptation of this anti-American tradition, O’Connor maintains that it is important to contextualise it within the particularities of the American experience and the global reach of the United States’ influence and power. He argues for a move away from stereotypes and caricatures towards more specific and profitable discussions about American actions and policies. Offering precise and useful ways of understanding anti-Americanism and American exceptionalism that place the terms in their relevant political contexts, this volume is a useful and engaging resource for those researching or studying American politics and ideology, foreign policy, American culture and international relations.

Is anti-Americanism one of the last respectable prejudices, or are accusations of anti-Americanism a way to silence reasonable criticism of the United States? Is the recent rise in anti-Americanism principally a reaction to President George W. Bush and his administration, or does it reflect a general turn against America and Americans? Have we moved from the American century to the anti-American century, with the United States as the ‘whipping boy’ for a growing range of anxieties? Can the United States recapture the international good will generally extended towards it in the days following 11 September 2001? These key questions are tackled by this new book, which offers the first comprehensive overview of anti-Americanism in the twenty-first century. Examining what is sensibly called anti-Americanism and its principal sources, this study details how the Bush administration has provoked a recent upsurge in anti-Americanism with its stances on a range of issues from the Kyoto Protocol to the war in Iraq. However, the spread of anti-Americanism reflects deeper cultural and political anxieties about Americanization and American global power that will persist beyond the Bush administration. At the heart of much of the recent anti-Americanism is opposition in the Middle East, and elsewhere, to US support of Israel. This crucial issue is explored in depth as is the associated claim of a ‘clash of civilizations’ between Islam and the West and the rise of anti-American terrorism. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of American Studies, International Relations and Politics.

Publisher Description

News stories remind us almost daily that anti-American opinion is rampant in every corner of the globe. Journalists, scholars, and politicians alike reinforce the perception that anti-Americanism is an entrenched sentiment in many foreign countries. Political scientist Giacomo Chiozza challenges this conventional wisdom, arguing that foreign public opinion about the U.S. is much more diverse and nuanced than is generally believed. Chiozza examines the character, source, and persistence of foreign attitudes toward the United States. His findings are based on worldwide public opinion databases that surveyed anti-American sentiment in Islamic countries, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and East Asia. Data compiled from responses in a wide range of categories -- including politics, wealth, science and technology, popular culture, and education -- indicate that anti-American sentiments vary widely across these geographic regions. Through careful analyses, Chiozza shows how foreign publics balance the political, social, and cultural dimensions of the U.S. in their own perceptions of the country. He finds that popular anti-Americanism is mostly benign and shallow; deep-seated ideological opposition to the U.S. is usually held among a minority of groups. More often, Chiozza explains, foreigners have conflicting attitudes toward the U.S. He finds that while anti-Americanism certainly exists, the United States is equally praised as a symbol of democracy and freedom, its ideals of liberty, equality, and opportunity applauded. Chiozza clearly demonstrates that what is reported as undisputed fact -- that various groups abhor American values -- is in reality a complex story. -- Lisa Blaydes

The question "Why do they hate us?" is one of the most oft-cited puzzles of contemporary American affairs, yet it’s not clear to whom "they" or "us" refers, nor even what "hate" means. In this bold new work, Ella Shohat and Robert Stam take apart the "hate discourse" of right-wing politics, placing it in an international context. How, for example, do other nations love themselves, and how is that love connected to their attitudes toward America? Is love of country "monogamous" or can one love many countries? When can a country’s self-love be a symptom of self-hatred? Drawing upon their extensive experience with South American, European, and Middle Eastern societies, the authors have written a long engagement with a problem that refuses to go away. Flagging Patriotism considers these complex features of "being patriotic," and in so doing insists that the idea of patriotism, instead of being rejected or embraced, be accorded the complex identity it possesses.

This book reveals how the concept of 'anti-Americanism' has been misused for over 200 years to stifle domestic dissent and dismiss foreign criticism.

Essays in the fourth volume examine key themes and flashpoints: the 'Bush Doctrine', the Iraq War, the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism, US relations with the UN, and many others.

Anti-Americanism has been the subject of much commentary but little serious research. In response, Peter J. Katzenstein and Robert O. Keohane have assembled a distinguished group of experts, including historians, polling-data analysts, political scientists, anthropologists, and sociologists, to explore anti-Americanism in depth, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The result is a book that probes deeply a central aspect of world politics that is frequently noted yet rarely understood. Katzenstein and Keohane identify several quite different anti-Americanisms-liberal, social, sovereign-nationalist, and radical. Some forms of anti-Americanism respond merely to what the United States does, and could change when U.S. policies change. Other forms are reactions to what the United States is, and involve greater bias and distrust. The complexity of anti-Americanism, they argue, reflects the cultural and political complexities of American society. The analysis in this book leads to a surprising discovery: there are as many ways to be anti-American as there are ways to be American.

This book examines what makes the United States an exceptional society, what impact it has had abroad, and why these issues have mattered to Americans. With historical and comparative evidence, Frank J. Lechner describes the distinctive path of American institutions and tracks changes in the country’s national identity in order to assess claims about America’s ‘exceptional’ qualities. The book analyzes several focal points of exceptionalist thinking about America, including the importance of US Constitution and the American sense of mission, and explores several aspects of America’s distinctive global impact; for example, in economics and film. In addition to discussing the distinctive global impact of the US, this first volume delves into religion, law, and sports.

Anti-Americanism as a concept is confused, often used in a contradictory fashion and invariably driven by emotion rather than intellect. Nevertheless, it casts a long policy shadow with adverse consequences (both real and potential) for actors including those who may not support the concept. This book puts anti-Americanism into a contemporary context and analyses some of its political consequences. The argument of the book is that ideas matter: they shape actions and have policy consequences. With the case of anti-Americanism, even superficial ideas can reflect deep seated emotions that might, at first sight, appear real. These can range from the rhetorical flourish and smart comment occasioned by a presidential gaucherie through to a deep embedded, visceral hatred of all things American. The contributors to this volume discern the difference between these two ends of the anti-American spectrum and assess the varying degree of ‘political consequence’. Divided into three parts, items addressed include: Networks, culture and foundations consisting of the role of influential foundations and think tanks in combating anti-Americanism, and the link between the political establishment in Washington D.C. and the popular culture industry Security and Anti-Americanism Regional and country Studies, including Canada, Australia, East Asia, Latin America, Greece and France. The Political Consequences of Anti-Americanism will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, international relations, security studies, American politics and American foreign policy.