The Rise of the Americophiles

On Wednesday 15th, 2008, Silvio Berlusconi was reelected President of the Republic of Italy. With Berlusconi's third win in Italy's quintennial election comes the assurance that the increase of anti-Americanism among the European middle class has not translated into anti-American sentiment within Europe's elected leaders.

A case in point, Silvio Berlusconi's Italy has an increasingly negative view of America. The percentage of the public who has a "favorable" view of the United States has dropped from 70% in 2002 to 53% in 2004. Likewise, the percentage of Italians who hold a "very favorable" view of Americans dropped by 50%. [1] This surge in anti-Americanism among Italy's public is sharply contrasted by the views of the Italian President. A staunch ally of American ideals and policy goals, Berlusconi has referred to anti-Americanism as "pure ideological trash."[2] His support of American foreign policy is aptly summarized by Slate magazine:

"In the lead-up to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, Italy was one of the first nations to grantWashington permission to use its ports, highways, and airspace and to offer landing rights at Italian bases. Berlusconi has kept 3,000 soldiers in Iraq (currently the third-largest contingent behind the Brits and the South Koreans). He has played up his visits to U.S. military cemeteries and installations in Italy, linking the GIs' sacrifice to the battle for Fallujah. He has also never missed an opportunity to wrap himself in the American flag."[3]
Despite all of this, Berlusconi has stayed in power, winning this last election with a narrow victory. Oddly enough, finding a staunch Americanist elected by a populace hostile to America is not that hard to do. Take for instance, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This week the Prime Minister has travelled across the United States to promote British goodwill. Among other things, Brown had meeting with all three Presidential candidates, the hosts of Good Morning America, and the last six contestants on American Idol. While visiting New England (a long time vacation spot for the Prime Minister), Brown gave a landmark speech summarizing his administration's major foreign policy objectives, including a desire for continued close Anglo-American relations:
"Now is an opportunity for a historic effort in co-operation, a new dawn in collaborative action between America and Europe," he said in his hour-long speech at the JFK presidential library, adding that "America's leadership is, and will be, indispensable". The message was clear - the days of unilateralism should be behind us and the post-Iraq war tensions across the Atlantic are water under the bridge. Throughout his trip, Mr Brown seemed keen to play up the close ties between the US and the UK, telling CBS television that he is "very pro-American and I've always been". [4]
Indeed, the trend of pro-American leaders being elected by anti-American voters seems to span across the Western world. For example, here is what the Washington Post says about Canada's President, Stephen Harper:
ACCORDING TO his opponent, Canadian Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper exposed "an agenda really drawn from the extreme right in the United States." He favored the Iraq war, opposed the Kyoto treaty on global warming, and is a social conservative to boot. He might just become -- heaven forbid -- "the most pro-American leader in the Western world." His victory would -- O, Canada! -- "put a smile on George W. Bush's face." Despite all those scary warnings, Mr. Harper and his party won Canada's election on Monday. That put an end to 12 years of increasingly incoherent and corrupt rule by the Liberal Party -- as well as the cynical and irresponsible attempt of its leader, outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin, to use anti-Americanism.
And Germany's Angela Merkel:

Mr. Martin becomes the second G-8 leader in four months to exit from office after discovering that anti-U.S. demagoguery is no longer enough to win an election. Gerhard Schroeder, the former German chancellor, also tried to rescue his political career last fall by parading his differences with Mr. Bush; the result was the victory of Angela Merkel, who has moved swiftly to repair relations with Washington. Interestingly, both Mr. Schroeder and Mr. Martin won previous campaigns by playing anti-American cards, in 2002 and 2004 respectively. While it's not clear that the level of ill feeling toward the United States or its president has changed much in Germany or Canada, it's obviously not the foremost concern of voters fed up with domestic mismanagement -- or, perhaps, political venality.[5]

Another pro-American is France's President, Nicolas Sarkozy. As said in The Weekly Standard:

[Sarkozy] has been scornfully nicknamed "the American" or, even worse, "the neocon"--now a common epithet among the French. In a country where anti-Americanism is a national sport, his adversaries are quick to point out his pro-American views. .... Sarkozy was content to be labeled as pro-American. In fact, during his latest visit to the United States, on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, Sarkozy asked and obtained a photo-op with President Bush at the White House. Then, in a landmark speech on September 12, 2006, Sarkozy underlined his attachment to the United States: "My dedication to our relationship with America is well known and has earned me substantial criticism in France. But let me tell you something, I'm not a coward. I embrace that friendship, I'm proud of the friendship between France and the United States and I proclaim it gladly." [6]

The pattern also holds true in Asia. The Boston Globe has an article on Pres. Bush's upcoming meeting with South Korea's President, Lee Myung-bak that illustrates this point nicely:
By all accounts, Bush -- who has never met Lee -- is more in sync with his views on North Korea than he was with the two previous South Korean presidents, Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung ... "Especially in comparison with visits by President Roh, the United States is very enthusiastic about Lee Myung-bak," said Heritage Foundation South Korea expert Bruce Klingner. "They welcome his emphasis on repairing the strained relations," he added. "There is clearly a difference in tone from a president that says the U.S.-ROK (Republic of Korea) alliance is the bedrock of South Korea's security and from a president who said what's wrong with being anti-American."[7]
And here is another Boston Globe piece, this time on Japan's new Prime Minister:
Ruling party elder and political moderate Yasuo Fukuda is expected to win today's contest for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, a victory virtually certain to make him the next prime minister of Japan in a parliamentary vote Tuesday. .... Fukuda is hardly the most charismatic or dynamic politician in Japan. The son of a former prime minister, he prefers gray suits, classical music, and moderate pro-American policies. [8]

I could go on like this for hours- but I think you get the idea. From the Czech Republic to Indonesia, vocal anti-American majorities across the world have chosen leaders with clear pro-American positions.

This all leads to the question: does world opinion of America matter that much anyway? I would suggest that (at least in modern democracies) it does not. While many have suggested that America's negative image makes it harder for American policy goals to succeed, there is little evidence to support this stance. To be fair, I admit that America needs allies to get things done. Yet despite America's dive in the opinion polls, America's allies are holding strong to American leadership. The European Union, the United Nations Security Council, the G-7 -all are led by this new group of pro-American leaders.

 

The free world has chosen its course: today is the age of the Americophiles.

[Note by the Author: This was orginally published on my personal Blog, The Scholar's Stage. If you enjoyed this post, I suggest you read the other articles I have posted there.]

 

[1] "Pew Global Attitudes Project: Spring 2007 Survey, Survey of 47 Publics: FINAL 2007 TRENDS TOPLINE" Pew Global Attititudes Project. July 27, 2007.

 

http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/256topline-pastyears.pdf

 [2] "10 Questions For Silvio Berlusconi" Time Magazine. July 19, 2003. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,465796,00.html

[3] Zach Mesitte. "What the Democrats Can Learn From Italy's Election." Slate Magazine. April 2007. http://www.slate.com/id/2139369/

[4] Kim Ghattas. "Brown's speech looks beyond Bush." BBC NEWS. April 19, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7355834.stm

[5] "A Defeat for Anti-Americanism." Editorial. Washington Post. January 28, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701447.html

[6] Oliver Guitta. "Sarkozy the American?" The Weekly Standard. April 2, 2007 http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/599dliqj.asp

[7] Arsad Mohammed. "South Korea's Lee to get warm welcome from Bush." Boston Globe. April 17, 2008. http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/ articles/2008/04/18/south_koreas_lee_to_get_warm_welcome_in_washington/

[8] Joseph Coleman. "Fukuda favored to win party race, be Japan's prime minister." Boston Globe. September 19, 2007. http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia /articles/2007/09/23/fukuda_favored_to_win_party_race_be_japans_prime_minister/

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