Wednesday, June 29, 2005
The Pro-Americans
Anne Applebaum provides an interesting look at polling data from around the world in today's Washington Post, identifying the groups of people more likely to be pro-American when it would seem the world is becoming less so.
Some interesting points from this article:
Applebaum charges that "[t]hose on their way up are pro-American. Those who have arrived, and perhaps feel threatened by those eager to do the same, are much less so." I'm sure Nordy will read this differently; that the able and educated view America as dangerous and wanton. But I don't think we should be surprised that America is still viewed as the beacon of freedom and prosperity by those who seek it?
The bigger lesson here...though one that should surprise absolutely no one...is that the populace outside our borders has a memory, too. Here, we generally associate negative feelings based on historical events. How many Americans who came of age in the draft era of the late 60s and early 70s have a less than rosy view of Vietnamese? Aren't there a decent share of people here in the US who still don't particularly trust Japanese or Chinese businesses, seeing them as infiltrating our economy? I'm not endorsing either of these views, but they are rather natural tendancies. Compare that with the data she finds: "people feel more positive about the United States when their personal experience [with the U.S.] is positive." One assumes that the inverse is true.
Question to be put out to the readers (and my fellow owners): do you think that America's current foreign relations will leave a similar bad taste? If so, with whom?
Some interesting points from this article:
Applebaum charges that "[t]hose on their way up are pro-American. Those who have arrived, and perhaps feel threatened by those eager to do the same, are much less so." I'm sure Nordy will read this differently; that the able and educated view America as dangerous and wanton. But I don't think we should be surprised that America is still viewed as the beacon of freedom and prosperity by those who seek it?
The bigger lesson here...though one that should surprise absolutely no one...is that the populace outside our borders has a memory, too. Here, we generally associate negative feelings based on historical events. How many Americans who came of age in the draft era of the late 60s and early 70s have a less than rosy view of Vietnamese? Aren't there a decent share of people here in the US who still don't particularly trust Japanese or Chinese businesses, seeing them as infiltrating our economy? I'm not endorsing either of these views, but they are rather natural tendancies. Compare that with the data she finds: "people feel more positive about the United States when their personal experience [with the U.S.] is positive." One assumes that the inverse is true.
Question to be put out to the readers (and my fellow owners): do you think that America's current foreign relations will leave a similar bad taste? If so, with whom?
