Here, have an essay...
For years political scientists have been predicting the decline of the US but it didn’t happen and isn’t bloody likely to happen any time soon. The US has defense treaties with more than 50 countries - so it would appear that the most common would view is that the U.S. is the ‘Big Brother’ in the global family. The American military would be the last line of defense if a country was attacked by an aggressive neighbour. That’s why terrorism has (According to media PR) ‘blossomed’. Terrorism is the weapon of the militaristically weak. The reason why terror attacks were first directed at the US is because no country on God’s green Earth can challege the US militarily.
It begs the question though - am I the only person who wonders if, ironically, the US inadvertedly brought this upon themselves? (There’s not much they could have done about it even if this were true, unfortunately…) Apparently I’m not the only one. I mean I hear people explaining the Al-Quaida attacks by ”Oh it’s the muslim extremists taking offence to our way of life!” but as a world superpower, wouldn’t that make them a target for those wishing to move up in the world?Ironically, whilst America increases it’s strangle-hold on the global community, it’s popularity is suffering dramatically. Even three of America’s closest allies (Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan) have populations where only about 1/5th of people view the U.S. positively.I’ve heard 3 explanations for this:
1 - It’s a temporary thing revoloving around the image of George Bush and the War in Iraq.
2 - It’s a predicable/understandable response stemming from the apparent ‘global arrogance’ that the U.S. exhibits when making international policy decisions while failing to address obvious unresolved problems that the world faces. (i.e. Climate Change, 3rd World Poverty etc)
3 - It’s a view not the fault of the U.S. but of people who criticise and disagree with it. Anti-Americanism has blossomed ever since he Vietnam and Korean wars. Anti-Americanists feel that every problem in the world is the fault of America. (To a certain extent) This is sometimes justified by media that arrives in other countries of- for example - rediculous lawsuits or racist displays. Some critics argue that Anti-Americanism will be outlived by America just as it outlived Nazism and Communism.
Personally, I feel that it’s the control that the U.S. has over the rest of the world that causes it’s negative image. Just as the negative image that students have of their teachers or principals, it’s a dislike of ‘the Man’ - people in charge. No matter what those in charge do, there will always be people who don’t like their decisions - then the opinion spreads to others until it becomes the dominant view. For example; the Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Ask any Australian and they will tell you how much they dislike him due to his IR laws, or the GST or his international policy… but consider this; he must have been liked at some time because he was elected in the first place, wasn’t he? The larger the control, then the more people who are dissatisfied with the way things are being run.
For years political scientists have been predicting the decline of the US but it didn’t happen and isn’t bloody likely to happen any time soon. The US has defense treaties with more than 50 countries - so it would appear that the most common would view is that the U.S. is the ‘Big Brother’ in the global family. The American military would be the last line of defense if a country was attacked by an aggressive neighbour. That’s why terrorism has (According to media PR) ‘blossomed’. Terrorism is the weapon of the militaristically weak. The reason why terror attacks were first directed at the US is because no country on God’s green Earth can challege the US militarily.
It begs the question though - am I the only person who wonders if, ironically, the US inadvertedly brought this upon themselves? (There’s not much they could have done about it even if this were true, unfortunately…) Apparently I’m not the only one. I mean I hear people explaining the Al-Quaida attacks by ”Oh it’s the muslim extremists taking offence to our way of life!” but as a world superpower, wouldn’t that make them a target for those wishing to move up in the world?Ironically, whilst America increases it’s strangle-hold on the global community, it’s popularity is suffering dramatically. Even three of America’s closest allies (Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan) have populations where only about 1/5th of people view the U.S. positively.I’ve heard 3 explanations for this:
1 - It’s a temporary thing revoloving around the image of George Bush and the War in Iraq.
2 - It’s a predicable/understandable response stemming from the apparent ‘global arrogance’ that the U.S. exhibits when making international policy decisions while failing to address obvious unresolved problems that the world faces. (i.e. Climate Change, 3rd World Poverty etc)
3 - It’s a view not the fault of the U.S. but of people who criticise and disagree with it. Anti-Americanism has blossomed ever since he Vietnam and Korean wars. Anti-Americanists feel that every problem in the world is the fault of America. (To a certain extent) This is sometimes justified by media that arrives in other countries of- for example - rediculous lawsuits or racist displays. Some critics argue that Anti-Americanism will be outlived by America just as it outlived Nazism and Communism.
Personally, I feel that it’s the control that the U.S. has over the rest of the world that causes it’s negative image. Just as the negative image that students have of their teachers or principals, it’s a dislike of ‘the Man’ - people in charge. No matter what those in charge do, there will always be people who don’t like their decisions - then the opinion spreads to others until it becomes the dominant view. For example; the Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Ask any Australian and they will tell you how much they dislike him due to his IR laws, or the GST or his international policy… but consider this; he must have been liked at some time because he was elected in the first place, wasn’t he? The larger the control, then the more people who are dissatisfied with the way things are being run.
The question is; is the U.S. responding to it the ‘right’ way?
I say no.