Bush and Anti-Americanism

There is a myth perpetuated in neocon publications such as the Weekly Standard and on right-wing blogs that Europe is pathologically anti-American and that Europeans have always been virulently opposed to anything that America might do in the world.  And certainly there has always been an undercurrent of anti-Americanism among the cultural elite in Germany, as Professor Andrei Markovits pointed out in his book Amerika,dich haßt sich’s besser. But it is the presidency of George W. Bush and his reckless invasion of Iraq that has destroyed America’s reputation in the World.  The New York Times today charts the growth of anti-American sentiment in 11 countries since 2000. In Germany, about 35% of people polled in 2000 had a negative opinion of the United States in 2000.  In 2006 the percentage had increased to 60% of Germans polled.

But contrary to what one might read on right-wing Bush-blogs such as Medienkritik, Germans are far more pro-American in their views than their counterparts in France, Spain, Great Britain, not to mention countries in the Middle East, such as Jordan – only 15% of Jordanians have a positive opinion of America.