26th Jan 2003
Anti-Europeanism
Fascinating piece in the NY Review of Books by Timothy Garton Ash titled “Anti-Europeanism in America,” that my dad calls my attention to. It’s long, so I’ve only scanned it and plan to print it and read it on the plane, but I thought I’d call it out to you all anyway before I forget. Quoting the intro:
This year, especially if the United States goes to war against Iraq, you will doubtless see more articles in the American press on “Anti-Americanism in Europe.” But what about anti-Europeanism in the United States? Consider this:
To the list of polities destined to slip down the Eurinal of history, we must add the European Union and France’s Fifth Republic. The only question is how messy their disintegration will be.
(Mark Steyn, Jewish World Review, May 1, 2002)
And:
Even the phrase “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” is used [to describe the French] as often as the French say “screw the Jews.” Oops, sorry, that’s a different popular French expression.
(Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online, July 16, 2002)
Or, from a rather different corner:
“You want to know what I really think of the Europeans?” asked the senior State Department Official. “I think they have been wrong on just about every major international issue for the past 20 years.”
(Quoted by Martin Walker, UPI, November 13, 2002)
Statements such as these recently brought me to the United States?to Boston, New York, Washington, and the Bible-belt states of Kansas and Missouri?to look at changing American attitudes toward Europe in the shadow of a possible second Gulf war. Virtually everyone I spoke to on the East Coast agreed that there is a level of irritation with Europe and Europeans higher even than at the last memorable peak, in the early 1980s.
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We need perhaps even more anti-Europeanism. In fact, there’s hardly any in comparison to the venomous, hate-mongering demonization of the US in Europe. Really. Anyone who denies this hasn’t been to Europe in a while. One problem is that the American press likes to give the impression of good will that just doesn’t exist.
European anti-Americanism is increasingly vicious. September 11th seems to have tipped it over the edge into full-throttle hatred. Go figure. Normally massmurder would provoke sympathy, not this ugly European schadenfreude.
At this point, it seems almost inevitable that Europe will be an adversary of the US. Unfortunately the press in the US ignores the issue, and feeds people lies about European good will (like tropes about “sympathy” post-9/11, which were only what the media wanted to show). The reality is much more ominous, resembling something akin to the rising demonization of the Jews in the 1930s.
Beware….
European anti-Americanism is increasingly vicious. September 11th seems to have tipped it over the edge into full-throttle hatred. Go figure. Normally massmurder would provoke sympathy, not this ugly European schadenfreude.
At this point, it seems almost inevitable that Europe will be an adversary of the US. Unfortunately the press in the US ignores the issue, and feeds people lies about European good will (like tropes about “sympathy” post-9/11, which were only what the media wanted to show). The reality is much more ominous, resembling something akin to the rising demonization of the Jews in the 1930s.
Beware….
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