A Tale of Two Allies
America - and France and Israel
In crises or periods of personal turmoil, you often find out who your friends are. And your enemies. That's why our friendships and relationships can change more profoundly under stress than in any other condition. And that goes for countries too.
I was thinking about this recently observing the coverage in the American media of two critical American allies: Israel and France. If you want an insight into the future of U.S. foreign policy, you could do worse than notice how attitudes toward these two countries have hardened in recent months. And in these relationships, the growing gap between Americans and Europeans is particular marked. While Israel's battle against Islamic and Palestinian terrorism is regarded across Europe with dismay and disdain, large pluralities of Americans cheer the Zionists on. And while France remains central to the European project, and its recent flirtation with the far right has alarmed other Europeans, Americans saw in le Pen mere confirmation of what many already believed: that France is an essentially untrustworthy, hypocritical repository of posers and bigots.
I'm not exaggerating. And this prejudice is even more striking when you recall that France is America's oldest ally. The capital city was designed by a Frenchman, L'Enfant, and the square across from the White House is named after LaFayette. In the War of Independence, France was America's key ally against the British. Both republics point to the Enlightenment as their founding influences, and up until President Kennedy, France was regarded as the centre of culture to which Americans still paid obeisance. But in the last few decades, distance from France has deepened into hostility not merely among American elites, but also among ordinary Americans. The Cold War worsened matters. De Gaulle's suspicion of the Anglo-American nexus led to natural tension. France's desire to use Europe as an anti-American counter-weight in world affairs didn't help either. More recently, the war on terror has exposed a deeper rift. French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine's belief that American policy was "simplistic" failed to get a respectful audience in Washington. For most Americans, when the French call something simplistic, it's a good sign it's the right thing to do.
The suspicion of the French is deepest among conservatives. The Washington Times, the conservative rival to the Post, said after le Pen's recent triumph in the first round of voting: ÒYou donÕt have to be an anti-Semite, a racist or even a jerk to enjoy the squirming this morning among our dear friends the French." "Everyone take a moment to cackle over how these people were so smug about the Florida recount," chimed in Jonah Goldberg at National Review. When the Weekly Standard had a reader contest for people to name a fourth country to be added to president Bush's "axis of evil," Libya, Syria and China made decent showings. But France won.
In almost two decades of living in the United States, I'm still amazed at the contempt most Americans privately hold for France. That doesn't mean a basic alliance with France is in question. But popular culture still tilts against Paris. Last weekend, the still-popular Saturday Night Live sketch comedy show ran a spoof tourism commercial for France. Here's the voice-over: "France, home to the world's greatest painters, chefs and anti-Semites. The French, cowardly yet opinionated, arrogant yet foul-smelling, anti-Israel, anti-American, and of course, as always, Jew-hating. Paris, the city of whores, dog feces on every corner, and effete men yelling anti-Semitic remarks at childern. The real creme de la creme of world culture. With all that's going on in the world, isn't it time we got back to hating ... the French?"
The contrast with Israel couldn't be starker. While most Europeans have experienced the horror of the last few weeks as grist for their hostility to the Jewish state, Americans have bonded deeply to their Israeli allies. A recent Gallup poll found that 47 percent of Americans sided with Israel in the current conflict, compared to a mere 13 percent with the Palestinians. (40 percent registered no preference). The more Americans tilt to the right, the more pronounced their pro-Israeli sympathies. But even among professed liberals, 45% favor the Israelis compared with 24% who back the Palestinians. And among the strongest supporters of Israel have been Democrats, such as Senators Dianne Feinstein and Joe Lieberman. Perhaps the most aggressively Zionist political magazine in Washington, The New Republic, tilts left and endorsed Al Gore in 2000. And last week, despite requests for silence from the administration, the House and Senate both passed by overwhelming margins statements of support for Israel.
Sceptics will say the following: this all points to the "strong pro-Israel lobby" in Washington and Jewish control of the American media. There's no question that American Jews do indeed have a strong presence in the media and in political funding. Good for them. But explaining most Americans' support for Israel in this paranoid (and near-bigoted) fashion misses the point. Support for Israel is not just among elites, and the strongest backing comes from Republicans who get almost no Jewish votes and far less Jewish campaign money than the Democrats. President Nixon - an anti-Semite in private - was a fierce defender of Israel. So was Ronald Reagan.
The real root of Americans' sympathy for Israel, I think, is a cultural one. Americans admire tenacity, democracy and a free society. They look at Israel and see a polity not unlike their own. There's a free press, a democratic system, a cantankerous civil society and a strong military. They admire the hard work that has built an amazing society from virtually nothing. When Americans look at the dictatorships, thugocracies and failed societies and economies of the neighboring Arab states, they feel distant and repulsed - especially since Islamist anti-Semitism is so naked. The newest factor in this bond is also the religious right. The Republicans were once the natural repository for country-club anti-Semites. But that cultural influence has waned dramatically -replaced by fervent support for Israel among many fundamentalist Christians, who back Israel's claim to the Holy Land for Biblical reasons. This evangelical influence has largely eclipsed the old elites', just as George W. Bush's strongly pro-Israel administration has supplanted his father's more neutral posture.
Above all, Americans, like all people, tend to like and support those who like and support them. Israel (and Britain, to a similar degree) can only gain from their proximity to the greatest super-power. This is not ultimately decided by elites, but by the people who vote for and endorse them. American support is not inevitable; and it can be withdrawn. If I were Jacques Chirac, or indeed any other European leader, I'd think about that lesson more deeply now than ever.
May 5, 2002, The Sunday Times of London
copyright © 2002 Andrew Sullivan |
