Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: NickSE who wrote (100188)	6/4/2003 12:21:15 PM
From: NickSE	Respond to of 281500

Views of world elite at core of U.S. problems abroad usatoday.com Much of the debate over anti-Americanism abroad boils down to a single question: Who's responsible for it -- them or us? The Pew Global Attitudes Project's recent gargantuan survey, which stretched its tentacles across 44 countries and included some 38,000 people, found that America's rating has slipped, but ''a reserve of goodwill toward the country still remains.'' That seems a windfall for America's image abroad compared to the decisively negative views we discovered in our own yearlong study of foreign elite opinion. While the Pew project focused on the masses, our study measured the reaction of foreign elites -- that is, people who shape the foreign and domestic policies in their countries -- to the events of 9/11, as reflected in the international press. We analyzed more than 4,000 articles from the 10 largest newspapers in China, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, India and Russia, most of them published Sept. 12-15, 2001. While many of these articles were written by pundits who are paid to be provocative, we also separated and measured the opinions of political, business, cultural and religious leaders. Our major finding: Elites in much of the world hate the USA. Even the so-called outpouring of sympathy for America following 9/11 never really materialized among most foreign elites. In India, for instance, a columnist called America ''a bully,'' while a religious leader said the USA was ''a hypocrite who bombs the people it feeds.'' In Egypt, a politician proclaimed that ''America's racist foreign policies are the main cause of Sept. 11.'' Although Egypt receives more financial aid from the USA than any other country in our project, the Egyptian elites in our study labeled the USA ''a terrorist'' 16 times more often than they called it ''generous or charitable.'' Views harm anti-terror efforts This hostility has a tremendously negative effect on the struggle against international terrorism. It creates an adversarial climate in which terrorists can find support among ordinary people; foreign intelligence agencies are less willing to share information with their U.S. counterparts, and U.S. military operations are impeded. It also generates political capital for the opposition in countries where the leader cooperates with America. The disparity between mass and elite views sheds light on the cause of anti-Americanism. When the masses abroad think of the United States, they may consider its military's brute force or the improprieties of its leaders -- but they also see Hollywood, high technology and a chance for a better life. The USA received high scores in the Pew study for culture, particularly science and technology. Masses vs. elites More importantly, immigration to the USA is the dream of the masses -- but not the elites. Foreign elites already have their place in society. They see only America's power, authority and confidence -- for the simple reason that America's power exceeds their own. Power is the prism through which elites overseas view America. The ''superpower status'' of the USA is the leading characteristic in foreign elites' descriptions of America. The country's power is indeed the main cause of anti-Americanism in the world. As for ''American culture,'' the term hardly exists in the lexicon of foreign elites. When we ranked the images used among elites abroad for the USA, ''rich culture or strong educational institutions'' ranked 37th; ''technologically advanced'' was 14th. Even ''brave, courageous or bold'' ranked 31st. These and many other positive U.S. images were eclipsed by ''tries to impose its will on other countries'' (second place), ''cares only for its narrow interest'' (fifth), ''warlike'' (sixth), ''hypocritical'' (eighth), ''arrogant'' (10th) and ''terrorist'' (13th). ''In many ways, we are viewed as the rich guy living on the hill,'' said former secretary of State Madeleine Albright, chairwoman of the Pew global survey. Albright is almost right. America is the rich guy on the hill, loved by many in other countries but despised by the elites who control those countries' institutions. Given that, anti-Americanism will likely persist as long as the U.S. storehouse of military and economic power holds. Vladimir Shlapentokh is a professor at Michigan State University; Joshua Woods is a graduate student in the MSU sociology department.