What Role Do We Play?
Article By: Daniel Price
There has been a lot of speculation that we are contributing to the Anti-American sentiment that has been growing in the Middle East. While we have already discussed that there are a number of other factors that play in to their general dislike of us, I would like to to review our actions and see if they may have enhanced their negative opinion toward Americans.
First I would suggest that we review the link below. This article talks review a number of polls taken of both Americans and Muslims in the Middle East.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1415550.ece
After reading this it is pretty clear that something besides our cultural differences is separating us. The fact that American’s have more in common with Muslims that the rest of the Western world and that Muslims in general most approve of American ideas of Democracy, Technology, and Free Speech leads me to believe that there is more than just cultural triats dividing us. Most American’s do not know this in fact and I would venture to guess that most American’s would argue that these things are why most Muslim’s do not like us.
Arabs didn’t always dislike us. At one time our foreign policy was accepted by almost everyone in the world. Back in Woodrow Wilson’s presidency American foreign policy was one of self-determination. Arabs lauded this idea and hoped that it would give them power to govern themselves. (Lee Smith, Article 2) Unfortunately, Arab’s felt betrayed when we allowed colonialism and helped to spearhead the creation of Israel. These actions seem very insincere, and our approval of Israel continues to be a cause for them to hate us. Our actions to them just seem to be more of the colonial interference that they have had to put up with since the World Wars.
After the World Wars our actions seemed even worse to them. The United States professes democratic exceptionalism, that democracy can solve all of our problems. However, we let things take precedence over the democratic ideals that we professed to hold. We supported dictators in like Saddam Hussein and the Taliban. To many Arabs in the Middle East, it seems like we are just putting up a front to disguise our ulterior motives because other pressing issues such as energy needs, the spread of communist Russia, and desire to short term peace in the region led us ignore our original goal of spreading democracy.
The last issue that I would like to address is a political theory that could explain the Middle East’s hate for us. Ever since the end of the cold war, the United States has enjoyed a position of Hegemony. There really has been only one world power. When this is the case, the Hegemony becomes a target for all of the other nations for the world. This could explain the Anti-American sentiment that the Middle East has toward us. Our actions can often be perceived as attempts to protect our power and make us look very selfish. If the United States were to release their spot as a Hegemony this would ruin the power of terrorist groups that seek to stir up anger against the United States. (Essentials of International Relations)
Through the above examples I have detailed a number of possible causes for the rise of Anti-Americanism in the Middle East. While I would venture to say that our actions politically may have had a very influential effect, I also want to mention real briefly a possible cause that is generated politically from the Middle East. Lee Smith describes the issue perfectly in these words,
“Anti-Americanism is how Arab leaders play the Arab people and the United States against each other to preserve their own hides. There is no incentive to be anything but anti-American, and it is very dangerous not to follow the pack. In Iraq, Arabs who work with Americans to rebuild their country are targeted for death. Anti-Americanism is the coin of the realm and has been for many years now. It is not growing. When Americans talk about rising Arab anti-Americanism, we are saying we do not understand how Arab regimes work. In effect, we are collaborating with dictators who will not allow Arabs a voice in their own governance.” (Lee Smith Article 2)
Anti-Americanism is a rising trend because a nation can pawn off his problems or mistakes on America, one of the lovely perks of being hegemonic. I think that Anti-Americanism will continue to remain prevalent in the area until the United States begins relinquishing some of its power and proves to the Arab people that it truly does want to bring democracy everywhere.
Article 1 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1415550.ece
Article 2- http://www.slate.com/id/2099413/
Book Source Mingst, Karen. Essentials of International Relations. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008.
