Anti-Americanism has less to do with the policies and actions of the United States and more with what the United States is or what it stands for. ~ Paul HollanderWe are told that it's this form of fundamentalist religion represented by thisWahhabi-influenced Islamic, if you will, ideology or view that has created, if you will, a seedbed for people to become violent, to become anti-American, and to do the kinds of things that we call "extremism" now. Is that true? I don't think it has to do with Islam. ~ Mai YamaniBy being anti-American, one adheres to aprejudice. ~ Andrei S. MarkovitsAnti-Americanism remains not only acceptable in many public circles, it has even become commendable, indeed a badge of honor, and perhaps one of the most distinct icons of being a progressive these days. ~ Andrei S. MarkovitsThe principal function of anti-Americanism has always been, and still is, to discredit liberalism by discrediting its supreme incarnation. To travesty the United States as a repressive, unjust, racist—almost fascist—society was a way of proclaiming: look what happens when liberalism is implemented! ~Jean-François Revel
They are escaped convicts. His Majesty is fortunate to be rid of such rabble. Their true God is power. ~Oliver SharpinUnited States, out of North America! And most important, United States, out of mind! ~Ward ChurchillI hate Americans; I hate America. ~Ariana GrandeMany American liberals... think anti-Americanism is the surest sign of progressive beliefs. ~Amir TaheriAmerica represents herself as a Christian nation. ... They profess to be a friend and defenders of all peace-loving and freedom-loving people. The only people we really see that they want to be friends of are themselves and their kind. They are really sincere when they say that they are freedom-loving people. Above all, the White man the world over wants to be free to rule and dominate the aboriginal people. ~Elijah MuhammadAmericans... are our enemies. ~Haunani-Kay TraskThe enemy is the United States of America and everyone who supports it. ~Haunani-Kay TraskThe United States is the Darwinist capital of the capitalist world. ~Giannina BraschiStrangely, it is always America that is described as degenerate and 'fascist', while it is solely in Europe that actual dictatorships and totalitarian regimes spring up. ~Jean-Francois RevelAmong tyrannical regimes and their defenders, America and Israel are so often identified as the same enemy. ~Dennis PragerGod bless America? No, no! No, not God bless America! Goddamn America! It's in theBible! ~ Jeremiah WrightTheRoman Empire had no need fordiplomacy. Nor doesthe United States. ~Boutros Boutros-GhaliEveryMuslim, from the moment they realize the distinction in their hearts, hates Americans, hates Jews and hates Christians. For as long as I can remember, I have felt tormented and at war, and have felt hatred and animosity for Americans. ~Osama bin LadenThe ruling to killthe Americans and their allies, civilians and military, is an individual duty for everyMuslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it. ~Osama bin LadenTheIslamic nation will carry out its duty. I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that isAmerica. ~Osama bin LadenDon't bring up your sons to detest theUnited States... Recollect that we form one country now. Abandon all these local animosities, and make your sons Americans. ~Robert E. LeeI hates the Constitution, this 'Great Republic', too! I hates the Yankee nation and everything they do. I hates theDeclaration of Independence, too! ~James Innes RandolphWhat does the term “anti-American” mean? Does it mean... that you’re opposed tofreedom of speech?... That you have a quarrel withgiant sequoias?...that you hate all Americans?... To call someone “anti-American”...is not justracist, it’s a failure of theimagination. An inability to see the world in terms other than those theestablishment has set out for you... If you don’t love us, you hate us... If you’re not with us, you’re with the terrorists. ~Arundhati Roy
When theImam said that 'the relations with the America are like the relations between awolf and asheep', he meant that the tension in these relations would continue until America renouncesits imperialist essence, and it is not about to do so for the time being. The Imam was talking about the struggle betweenIslam and America, not about compromising with America. He said, 'We will not allow you to have interests in the world of Islam'.
We can say that the United States runs the world like theTaliban ranAfghanistan.Cuba is dealt with like awoman caught outside not wearing herburkha. Horrificsanctions are imposed onIraq in the manner of banningmusic,dancing, and kite-flying inKabul.Jean-Bertrand Aristide is banished fromHaiti like the religious police whipping a man whose beard is not the right length.
William Blum, introduction toFreeing the World to Death
It would be some time before I fully realized that the United States sees little need fordiplomacy;power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacy. This is why the weak are so deeply concerned with thedemocratic principle of thesovereignequality ofstates, as a means of providing some small measure of equality for that which is not equal in fact. Coming from a developing country, I was trained extensively ininternational law and diplomacy and mistakenly assumed that the great powers, especially the United States, also trained their representatives in diplomacy and accepted the value of it. But theRoman Empire had no need fordiplomacy. Nor does the United States. Diplomacy is perceived by an imperial power as a waste of time and prestige and a sign of weakness.
We are nothated for who we are. We are hated for what we do. It is not our principles that have spawnedpandemic hatred of America in theIslamic world. It is our policies.
When they laid down their arms, wemurdered them. We lied to them. We cheated them out of theirlands. We starved them into signing fraudulent agreements that we calledtreaties which we never kept. We turned them intobeggars ona continent that gave life for as long as life can remember. And by any interpretation ofhistory, however twisted, we did not do right. We were not lawful nor were we just in what we did. For them, we do not have to restore these people, we do not have to live up to some agreements, because it is given to us byvirtue of our power to attack therights of others, to take their property, to take their lives when they are trying to defend their land andliberty, and to make their virtues acrime and our ownvices virtues...
I think awards in this country at this time are inappropriate to be received or given until the condition of theAmerican Indian is drastically altered. If we are not our brother's keeper, at least let us not be his executioner.
Marlon Brando, speech for the Academy Awards protesting the treatment of American Indians, written by Brando, as it appeared in theNew York Times (30 March 1973).
The United States of America will become the United States of Banana. AndPuerto Rico will be the first half-and-halfbanana republic state incorporated that will secede from the union. Then will come Liberty Island, then Mississippi Burning, Texas BBQ, Kentucky Fried Chicken—all of them—New York Yankees, Jersey Devils—you name it—will want to break apart—and demand a separation—adivorce. Things will not go well for the banana republic when the shackles and chains of democracy break loose and unleash the dogs of war. Separation—divorce—disintegration of subject matters that don’t matter anymore—only verbs—actions. Americans will walk like chickens with their heads cut off.
Giannina Braschi, "United States of Banana" (2011),AmazonCrossing.
The United States is theDarwinist capital of thecapitalist world. A head afraid is a head haunted. A head haunted is a head hunted. Run for your life. Run from theguillotine to a head hunter who saves your head and raises your salary — so you’ll be caught in the red of the fish-market buying gadgets to distract your fragileimagination that is cut in the red market of blood—running and escaping — running again — changing your resume to update the fear you feel of beingunemployed tomorrow — in the streets — and from there towelfare — and from there tobegging.
Giannina Braschi, "United States of Banana" (2011),AmazonCrossing.
I'm amazed that there is such misunderstanding of what ourcountry is about, that people would hate us. I am like mostAmericans. I just can'tbelieve it, because Iknow howgood we are, and we've got to do a better job of making our case. We've got to do a better job ofexplaining to the people in theMiddle East, for example, that we don't fight awar againstIslam orMuslims. We don't hold anyreligion accountable. We're fightingevil. And these murderers have hijacked a greatreligion in order to justify their evil deeds. And we cannot let it stand.
George W. Bush, remarks in a press conference, after questions byKen Walsh ofU.S. News & World Report (11 October 2001), as recorded inPublic Papers of the Presidents of the United States: 2001, Book 2 (2004) Government Printing Office, p. 1226
This country is big-time pig time... Change the bald eagle to a big bowl of macaroni and cheese. A big bowl. 'Cause everything in this country is king size, extra large and super jumbo. Especially the fucking people! Have you seen some of the people in this country? Have you taken a good look at some of these big, fat motherfuckers walking around? Big fat motherfuckers! Oh, my God. Huge piles of redundant protoplasm, lumbering through the malls like a fleet of interstate buses. The people in this country are immense. Massive bellies, monstrous thighs, and big fat fucking asses! Next time you're in the vicinity of one of these creatures, stand there for a minute and observe. And if you stand there for a minute you'll begin to wonder, "How does this woman take a shit?" How does she shit? And more frightening still, how does she wipe her ass? Can she even locate her asshole? She must require assistance. Are paramedics trained in this field?
We are not part of the United States simply because the United States says so... Rather than taking over the reins of power of the United States, we're talking about abolishing those reins altogether... United States, out of your classrooms! ... United States, out of North America! And most important, United States, out of mind!
How does the rest of the world perceive America... We're the nation that stood by and didn't lift a finger when theIranian public was protesting their government. We voiced no support and did not try to help in any significant way, and the protest was soon quelled. We're the nation that drew red lines inSyria and watchedthem being crossed without a whimper. We're the nation that only uttered a few lukewarm words asPutininvaded the Crimea and theUkraine. We're the nation that traded five of the world's most dangerous terrorists for one American deserter. We're the nationthat gave away the store to insure that Iran can finance its terrorist attacks and be assured of having a nuclear device in a few years... A note to our enemies. You think you know America, but you only see the tiny, inept, incompetent, cowering political tip of a very big, very capable iceberg. You don't know the Heartland where the people are fiercely independent and willing to defend this nation with their bare hands if that's what it takes. You don't know thesteelworkers inPittsburgh with muscles that could break a man's neck like a twig. You don't know the swamp folks inCajun country that can wrestle a full-grownalligator out of thewater. You don't know themountain folks inAppalachia who can knock asquirrel's eye out from a hundred yards away with a small caliberrifle. You don't know thefarmers, thecowboys, theloggers and theseagoing folks. You don't know the truck drivers, the carpenters, the mountain men who live off the land, the hard rock miners or the small town cops who keep the peace in the rowdy border towns. No, you don't know America.
Well, brother, I don't mind that. It's a good place. When you are asked, you just say he was going, he said, to America." He put the revolver to his right temple. "You can't do it here, it's not the place", cried Achilles, rousing himself, his eyes growing bigger and bigger. Svidrigaïlov pulled the trigger.
Thomas Friedman,New York Times (13 February 2002) "Crazier Than Thou"
After two years of traveling almost exclusively toWestern Europe and theMiddle East,Poland feels like a geopolitical spa. I visited here for just three days and got two years of anti-American bruises massaged out of me. Get this: people here actually tell you they like America -- without whispering. What has gotten into these people? Have all their subscriptions toLe Monde Diplomatique expired? Haven't they gotten the word fromBerlin andParis? No, they haven't. In fact, Poland is the antidote to European anti-Americanism. Poland is to France what Advil is to a pain in the neck. Or asMichael Mandelbaum, theJohns Hopkins foreign affairs specialist, remarked after visiting Poland:"Poland is the most pro-American country in the world -- including the United States."
America is a merebully, from one end to the other.
Thomas Gage, as quoted inPaul Revere's Ride (1995), by David Hackett Fischer, New York: Oxford University Press, p. 31
My father had served with greathonor andcourage in theSecond World War. He fought for a country that was not only great, but good. It had its flaws and had some imperfections. It was theoriginal sin ofslavery which you know which we hadn't completed extirpated because we still hadracial injustice in the50s and60s and70s. We had only recently abolished, formally abolishedsegregation. So I was aware that uh, America had its flaws and defects in its history. But I also believed in the country and believed in its principles. That's the way I was brought up and so I was shocked when I found people who were just openly, vociferously anti-American, condemning not only America's sins but America itself, condemning its principles and pointing in some cases tocommunist regimes likeCuba as being superior.
I do not believe thatthe president loves America. He doesn't love you. And he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.
If 9/11 can be construed as the exemplar of anti-Americanism at work, does it make much sense to imply that all anti-Americans are complicit with terrorism?
Greece is a sort of American vassal; theNetherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main sugar plantation of the Americanmonopolies;Turkey is prepared to kowtow before any United States proconsul andCanada is the boring second fiddle in the American symphony.
Revolution will be a tangible demonstration before all the Americas that peoples are capable of rising up, that they can rise up by themselves right under the very fangs of the monster.
Our every action is a battle cry against imperialism, and a battle hymn for the people's unity against the great enemy of mankind, theUnited States of America.
Actually, who is the terrorist, who is againsthuman rights? The answer is the United States becausethey attacked Iraq. Moreover, it is the terrorist king, waging war.
A friend last weekend said he thought the story about the University of New Hampshire's website publishing a bias-free language guide, which declared that use of the word 'American' is 'problematic', was a hoax. Of course, it was real.
Unlike back in ‘68, “I hate America” is now “organised”. Not organised in the leftist sense, I mean organised in the Ben and Jerry’s sense. Attractively-packaged, nice tasting, creamy, chocolaty, cookie-dough anti-Americanism that clogs the arteries and numbs thebrain.Fashion trumps sophistication. America’s insignia are ubiquitous — from Ralph Lauren jumpers to Primal Scream album covers to the end of a flaming match in the Arab Street, looking modish even when being burned. I’ve seen kids onTV inOsama bin Laden t-shirts andNew York Yankees’ baseball caps (Hello? You don’t see the irony?). I’ve watched youngBritish men in the nondescript north-of-London town of Luton clad in “New York” sweatshirts holding up banners of theextremist Islamic group al-Muhajiroun. Our rebels are American. So are our anti-Americans.Michael Moore is one of America’s biggest exports. America makes anti-Americanism profitable for America. What a country! ... America is not the panacea, nor is it thedevil. Our problems are generally our problems. The world would do well to be a little more like America, a tad more insular, self-involved.
It almost seems that nobody can hate America as much as native Americans.
Eric Hoffer, as quoted in "Thoughts of Eric Hoffer, Including: 'Absolute Faith Corrupts Absolutely'",The New York Times Magazine (25 April 1971), p. 25
Anti-Americanism has less to do with the policies and actions of the United States and more with what the United States is or what it stands for.
The American Left’s affair withfundamentalist Islam is essentially alove-fear relationship. TheLeft loves Islam’s hatred of America and its desire to radically change this country, but the Left also fears what militantMuslims are capable of, especially if they turn their murderous rage on their so-called friends. So the Left, likeNeville Chamberlain with theNazis, walks a tightrope, appeasing Muslims at every turn, offering excuses for Islamic violence, and hoping Muslim fundamentalists won’t bite the hand that feeds them their excuses... Islam has announced again and again that it despises thevalues,culture, andtraditions of America. The American Left does too. Consistent with theArabic proverb that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, the American Left has formed an alliance with fundamentalist Islam... The American Left’s affair with fundamentalist Islam is essentially a love-fear relationship. The Left loves Islam’s hatred of America and its desire to radically change this country, but the Left also fears what militant Muslims are capable of, especially if they turn their murderous rage on their so-called friends. So the Left, like Neville Chamberlain with the Nazis, walks a tightrope, appeasing Muslims at every turn, offering excuses for Islamic violence, and hoping Muslim fundamentalists won’t bite the hand that feeds them their excuses.
Thus are assaults onpatriotism failures of character. They are made by privileged people who enjoy the full benefits offered by the country they deride and detest, but they lack the basic decency to pay it the allegiance and respect that honor demands. But honor, of course, is also an object of their derision... In the long and deadly battle against those who hate... and hate America in particular, we must be powerfully armed, morally as well as materially. To sustain us through the worst times we need courage and unity, and these must rest on a justified and informed patriotism.
InRussia, all you have to do to get ahouse is to be born in theSoviet Union. You are entitled to housing. In America, if you don't have adollar you have a right to choose betweensleeping in a house or on the pavement. Yet you say we are theslave tocommunism.
Hating America may still be fashionable, particularly in Europe. But it is also fundamentally shortsighted, unless one wants to side withPutin’s Russia, theChinese Communist Party, or theIslamist fanatics of the Middle East.
Look atVietnam, look atLebanon. Whenever soldiers start coming home in body bags, Americans panic and retreat. Such a country needs only to be confronted with two or three sharp blows, then it will flee in panic, as it always has.
Osama bin Laden, as quoted inThe Looming Tower, by Wright, p. 187.
Theruling to kill the Americans and their allies,civilians andmilitary, is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it.
Hostility toward America is areligiousduty, and we hope to be rewarded for it byGod... TheIslamic nation will carry out its duty. I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America.
In today's wars, there are nomorals. We believe the worst thieves in the world today and the worst terrorists are the Americans. We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned,they are all targets.
The call to wage war against America was made because America has spear-headed the crusade against the Islamic nation, sending tens of thousands of its troops to theland of the two Holy Mosques over and above its meddling in its affairs and its politics, and its support of the oppressive, corrupt and tyrannical regime that is in control. These are the reasons behind the singling out of America as a target. And not exempt of responsibility are those Western regimes whose presence in the region offers support to theAmerican troops there. We know at least one reason behind the symbolic participation of the Western forces and that is to support theJewish andZionist plans for expansion of what is called the GreatIsrael. Surely, their presence is not out of concern over their interests in the region.
After our victory inAfghanistan and the defeat of the oppressors who had killed millions of Muslims, the legend about the invincibility of the superpowers vanished. Our boys no longer viewed America as a superpower. So, when they left Afghanistan, they went toSomalia and prepared themselves carefully for a long war. They had thought that the Americans were like theRussians, so they trained and prepared. They were stunned when they discovered how low was the morale of the American soldier.America had entered with 30,000 soldiers in addition to thousands of soldiers from different countries in the world... Any effort directed against America and the Jews yields positive and direct results,God willing. It is far better for anyone to kill a single American soldier than to squander his efforts on other activities.
Every Muslim, from the moment they realize the distinction in their hearts, hates Americans,hates Jews andhates Christians. For as long as I can remember, I have felt tormented and at war, and have felt hatred and animosity for Americans.
Madam, don't bring up your sons to detest theUnited States government. Recollect that we form one country now. Abandon all these local animosities, and make your sons Americans.
Robert E. Lee, advice to a Confederate widow who expressed animosity towards the northern U.S. after the American Civil War, as quoted inThe Life and Campaigns of General Lee (1875) by Edward Lee Childe, p. 331. Also quoted in"Will Confederate Heritage Advocates Take Robert E. Lee’s Advice?" (July 2014), by Brooks D. Simpson,Crossroads, WordPress. This quote is sometimes paraphrased as "Madam, do not train up your children in hostility to the government of the United States. Remember, we are all one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring them up to be Americans."
The administration has said that Iraq has no right to stockpilechemical orbiological weapons, mainly because they have used them in the past. Well, if that's the standard by which these matters are decided, then the U.S. is the nation that set the precedent. The U.S. has stockpiled these same weapons and more for over forty years... The truth is, the U.S. has set the standard when it comes to the stockpiling and use ofweapons of mass destruction... When aU.S. plane or cruise missile is used to bring destruction to a foreign people, this nation rewards thebombers with applause and praise. What a convenient way to absolve these killers of anyresponsibility for the destruction they leave in their wake... Whether you wish to admit it or not, when you approve, morally, of thebombing of foreign targets by the U.S. military, you are approving of acts morally equivalent to thebombing in Oklahoma City.
Timothy J. McVeigh, as quoted in "An Essay on Hypocrisy" (1998),Media Bypass
Iranian leaders regularly pray forAmerica's death. We currently tolerate this hatred because we don't seem to fear its consequences.
America represents herself as aChristian nation. ... They profess to be a friend and defenders of allpeace-loving and freedom-loving people. The only people we really see that they want to be friends of are themselves and their kind. They are really sincere when they say that they arefreedom-loving people. Above all, theWhite man the world over wants to be free to rule and dominate theaboriginal people.
Muslims andArabs have longmemories. Americans, unfortunately, have very short memories, and they don't rememberour foreign policy that may have antagonized.
[A]nti-Americanism derives simply from our being a colossus that bestrides the earth. This resentment may be incurable. But much anti-Americanism derives from the role U.S. political, economic, and military power has played...
It is small surprise thatamong tyrannical regimes and their defenders, America and Israel are so often identified as the same enemy. This is not merely a consequence of America's standing along behind Israel; the United States has aided variousArab countries very generously, and it has on some critical occasions backed Arab regimes, such asNasser'sEgypt in 1956 andSaudi Arabia in 1981, againstIsrael.The hostility is aroused largely because America and Israel representdemocracy,equal rights for women, a higher quality of life, and a willingness to confrontdespotism. That is why the two non-Muslim countries that have suffered the heaviest lossest from Islamic suicide murderers are Israel and the United States... Israel remains and embattled democracy in the midst ofauthoritarian states, and the birthplace of the kibbutz to which tens of thousands of youth from around the world have turned for a living lesson in humanequality.
In my travels, I learned what people really thought of us. Americans were greedy, domineering, self-righteous, and dumb. Too easily, I agreed with these stereotypes.
Much has been said about the shocking 'militarization' of thepolice, and how this seemed to many like a provocation. Police in Ferguson were encased in armor that one veteran remarked was heavier than anything he wore inIraq, and now the cry has gone up. Demilitarize the police! Take away their MRAPs, their forest camouflage, and all the paraphernalia ofintimidation that accompanies them intobattle. RepresentativeAlan Grayson introducedlegislation, shortly before Ferguson exploded, that would have ended thePentagon program which funneled this gear into local police departments, but it was voted down. Several newer versions are in the works, and a good thing too, but this is attacking the symptoms rather than thedisease. The disease isimperialism, otherwise known as U.S.foreign policy. The underlying condition is the Americanempire, an international regime ofterror and exploitation which cannot be expected to treat its owncitizens much better than it treats its overseas subjects. How on earth did we ever expect otherwise?
Try to tell aRussian housewife, who trudges miles on foot in sub-zero weather in order to spend hours standing in line at a state store dispensingfoodrations, that America is defiled by shopping centers, expressways and familycars.
Ayn Rand,The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971).
For this "Fair Land of Freedom" I do not give a damn! I'm glad I fit against it, I only wish we'd won, and I don't want no pardon for anything I done. I hates theConstitution, this "Great Republic", too! I hates theFreedman's Bureau and uniforms of blue! I hates the nastyeagle with all its brags and fuss, and the lying, thieving Yankees, I hates them wuss and wuss! I hates the Constitution, this "Great Republic", too! I hates the Yankee nation and everything they do. I hates theDeclaration of Independence, too!
There is a big difference between being anti-American and being critical of the United States. Once again, critiques are appropriate and necessary, provided that they rest on facts and address real abuses, real errors and real excesses, without deliberately losing sight of America's wise decisions, beneficent interventions and salutary policies. But critiques of this kind, balanced, fair and well-founded are hard to find, except in America herself: in the daily press in weeklynews magazines, ontelevision andradio, and in highbrow monthly journals, which are more widely read than their equivalents in Europe...Strangely, it is always America that is described as degenerate and 'fascist', while it is solely in Europe that actual dictatorships and totalitarian regimes spring up.
America is the object of their loathing because, for a half-century or more, she has been the mostprosperous andcreativecapitalist society onearth. Ultimately it isliberal democracy - or quite simplyliberty itself - that they are eager to destroy, even though they are among its foremost beneficiaries, being free totravel anywhere, anytime in order to hatch their plots. If their diktats were carried out, if frontier barriers were reestablished everywhere, withpassports and visas even fortourists, there could have been noSeattle and no Goteborg.
Recently, those who have criticized the actions of the U.S. Government... have been called “anti-American.”...The term “anti-American” is usually used by the American establishment to discredit... its critics. Once someone is branded anti-American, the chances are that he... will be judged before they are heard, and the argument will be lost in the welter of bruised national pride. But what does the term “anti-American” mean? Does it mean... that you’re opposed tofreedom of speech?... That you have a quarrel withgiant sequoias?...that you don’t admire the hundreds of thousands of American citizens who marched againstnuclear weapons, or the thousands of war resisters who forced their government to withdraw fromVietnam?...that youhate all Americans? This sly conflation of America’s culture, music, literature, the breathtaking physical beauty of the land, the ordinary pleasures of ordinary people with criticism of theU.S. government’s foreign policy (about which, thanks toAmerica’s “free press”, sadly most Americans know very little) is a deliberate and extremely effective strategy. To call someone “anti-American”, indeed to be anti-American, (or... anti-Indian or anti-Timbuktuan) is not justracist, it’s a failure of theimagination. An inability to see the world in terms other than those theestablishment has set out for you... If you don’t love us, you hate us... If you’re not with us, you’re with the terrorists.
I hate America's crimes very much. I detest the Zionists, and I hope that the day will come when the world is free of these germs ofcorruption anddestruction.
I was seeking to explain anti-American movements that had erupted inSouth Korea in the1980s. I was interested in explaining why South Korea, once considered a best friend and ally of the United States, had embraced anti-American rhetoric and movements duringits pursuit of democracy. My research found that the movements had inherently been related to thepolitics of national identity, since with the anti-American rhetoric dissidents had sought to challenge theauthoritarian state's definitions ofnation and national identity.
Gi-Wook Shin,"Acknowledgements",Ethnic Nationalism in Korea (2006), Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, p. xi.
Anti-Americanism from abroad would not be such a problem if Americans were united in standing up for their own country. But in this country itself, there are those who blame America for most of the evils in the world. On the political left, many fault the United States for a history of slavery, and for continuinginequality andracism. Even on the right, traditionally the home of patriotism, we hear influential figures say that America has become so decadent... If these critics are right, then America should be destroyed. And who can dispute some of their particulars? This country did have a history of slavery and racism continues to exist. There is much in ourculture that is vulgar and decadent. But the critics are wrong about America, because they are missing the big picture. In their indignation over the sins of America, they ignore what is unique and good about American civilization.
Clinton saw the Khomeinist regime as 'progressist'; a view shared by many Americanliberals who think anti-Americanism is the surest sign ofprogressive beliefs. That's a lie.
We are told that it's this form offundamentalistreligion represented by thisWahhabi-influencedIslamic, if you will,ideology or view that has created, if you will, a seedbed for people to become violent, to become anti-American, and to do the kinds of things that we call "extremism" now. Is that true? I don't think it has to do with Islam. I don't think it has to do with any form of this Islamic interpretation. Of course there is a problem with dogma. But I think the problem lies with thepolitical systems that use religion.