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Bittersweet Affair II
In the first part of ‘The Bittersweet Affair’ it was
established that; anti-Americanism if indeed it has been coined
so, is a wide spread and even global sentiment and is particularly
virulent in the Middle East. I also maintained in the strongest
terms that anti-Americanism is not caused by so called U.S. imperialism,
rationalizing my argument with historical confirmation of the natural
American distaste for empire and colonial ambition. Part one then
concluded by forwarding what I opined is the root cause of anti-Americanism.
This is the love-hate relationship between the USA and the rest
of the world dynamic that is akin to a volatile connected between
ultimately inseparable lovers.
To quote myself; “Anti-American sentiment is in fact a weird
manifestation of the great love, high regard and elevated expectations
the world has for America and its institutions”, end quote.
We note that regardless of nationality or creed the average informed
citizen of the world has only the warmest of feelings for the American
people. “It’s the government you know – Bush,-that
I don’t like” is a comment that will often be uttered
in exacerbated tones.
The world is also admiring of traditional American largesse and
its awesome ability to project power. American institutions such
as the media, the courts, the freedom of opportunity – these
and other achievements are traits that will always be the pillars
that define the very best of the United States.
It is important to note that the high global regard for the essence
of America and the high expectations demanded form it are a direct
result of the high moral standards the U.S. holds itself to (arguably
as we shall see). In short, if the world expects the United States
to be the moral vanguard of the free world, then it is because the
U.S pegged itself to those lofty ideas by its unique establishment.
I must stress this point in various ways again and again at the
risk of redundancy since it is at the heart of my premise that the
U.S. seems and is also seen to be an ogre because it has failed
itself; America has not done enough to live up to its founding principles
beyond its borders. The point is that American’s failure to
help ensure that all oppressed nations can also live in freedom
in their own countries under democratic governments is a reflection
of the great responsibility the rest of the world has entrusted
it with. No other nation is expected to have the moral stature and
economic clout to affect meaningful change anywhere except the U.S.
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I ask for instance, why is it that the typical anti-American engaged
in a boozy diatribe of Bush bashing, not ever stop to ponder why
China, Russia or for that matter, democratic Britain, are not held
to the same difficult criteria that the U.S. is being accused of
not performing?
It is the failure of successive U.S. administrations that lies
at the core of anti-Americanism. The high principles that laid the
foundations of the United States, It’s proven commitment to
individual freedom and equal opportunity in the pursuit of happiness,
are the some aspirations held dearly by the world’s oppressed
societies. However, the U.S. is perceived and often correctly, as
an appeaser of the very regimes that stifle their own societies.
This double standard is in direct contradiction to the impeccable
U.S. constitution and all that is good and beautiful about the American
system.
U.S. governments, the problem is not a Bush administration specialty,
have been held hostage by a set of conflicting national interests.
Lines of trade
As the world’s most powerful economy the United States must
protects its lines of trade and this is not to be held against it,
as any nation with even a tenth of U.S. import and export volume
would and does do the same. The American addiction to oil –
soon to be out guzzled by an ever hungry China – is a part
of this equation of a massive economy making sure that it gets its
fix. Not to say that securing energy is the exclusive obsession
of the United States.
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