Military

DATE=December 17, 2002

TYPE=Dateline

TITLE=Anti-Americanism in Europe

NUMBER=7-37043

BYLINE=Ania Zalewksi

TELEPHONE=619-1287

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Neal Lavon

CONTENT=

DISK: DATELINE THEME [PLAYED IN STUDIO, FADED UNDER DATELINE HOST VOICE OR PROGRAMMING MATERIAL]

HOST: A recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and Press showed of 38,000 people in 44 nations indicated that the United States is viewed less favorably than in the past. But the survey also shows that a "reservoir of good will" still remains. People seem to embrace American trends and culture yet remain suspicious of U-S influence on their societies. This is particularly true in the new Europe which is emerging as a major world force. More now in today's Dateline, written by Ania Zalewski. Here's Neal Lavon.

NL: When the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, the French newspaper, Le Monde, announced in a banner headline: "Nous sont tous Americains" - "We are all Americans". One year later, the author of these words - Jean-Marie Colombani - offered a startling revision: "We have all become anti-Americans."

There is a growing debate on both sides of the Atlantic whether anti-Americanism in Europe has intensified and if so, what are its causes. According to Carroll Doherty, editor of the survey conducted by the Pew Center, majorities in Europe still have a positive view of the United States.

TAPE: CUT#1, DOHERTY, :22

"The U-S image in Europe is still very favorable throughout most of Europe. But in some countries, notably - Germany, Slovak Republic, even Great Britain - there has been a decline in the percentage of people who have positive views of the United States over the last two years."

NL: According to Christopher Makins, President of the Atlantic Council of the United States "Yankee Go Home!" was painted on the walls of Europe, forty and fifty years ago, but it never was a predominant sentiment in Europe. Historically, anti-Americanism has been concentrated in two parts in the European political spectrum. On the extreme Left, it was exhibited among the communists and its sympathetic political parties, who wanted the United States out of Europe in order to expand the influence of communism. The extreme right or if you like the extreme nationalist side of Europe - sees the United States as trying to dominate Europe and as a challenge to traditional European attitudes and culture.

TAPE: CUT#2, MAKINS, :40

"What happens periodically is that these small enclaves of anti-Americanism on the Right and on the Left enlarge somewhat because of the particular context or a particular set of issues as for example they did during the Vietnam War. I think you are seeing and have seen in the last year or so something of the same on the very much smaller scale as a result of in particular U-S policies towards Iraq and I think this is given those who wish to promote anti-Americanism a little bit more to work with."

NL: In a recent debate organized by the American Enterprise Institue - Joshua Muravchik, a resident scholar at the Institute acted as a prosecutor in the debate over the issue of European anti-Americanism.

TAPE: CUT#3, MURAVCHIK,:35

"I think it's no longer debatable that anti-Americanism is a surging current in Europe, I've seen demonstrations of hundreds of thousands in the streets of London, and in Italy, we've seen Jose Bove become a kind of cult figure in France on the strength of trashing McDonald's, we've seen best selling books in France setting forth the hypothesis that September 11 was all a fraud, an American plot to attack itself in order to justify global imperialism."

NL: And the list goes on. According to Josh Muravchik. even the novelist Salman Rushdie, a man rarely accused of pro-American bias, was moved to write: "Night after night, I have found myself listening to Londoners' diatribes - the (9/11) attacks are routinely discounted. Americans care only about their own dead, American patriotism, obesity, emotionality, self-centeredness."

According to many experts, the events of nine-eleven were, on many levels, a defining point in European-American relations. On the one hand, political philosophies crystallized after the events in order to face the war on terrorism, and yet, on the other - many in Europe claimed that the Americans monopolized the tragedy in which nationals of more than eighty countries had perished. But to Joshua Muravchik, this is a baseless argument.

TAPE: CUT#4, MURAVCHIK, :15

"There were foreigners in the building, but this was an attack on the United States - both in the minds of the people who carried out the attack and in the physical reality that it was an attack on the American soil and an American properties."

NL: But in Europe, there were still some extreme voices claiming that "America got what she deserved." David Aikman is a Washington Commentator.

TAPE: CUT#5, AIKMAN, :44

"And although nobody applauded what happened I know that particularly in the British press there was a fairly strong sense of 'Well - we told you so' or 'You've got what you deserved'. And then I think other things began to come into play. There has been in Europe always that certain undercurrent anti-Semitism, some of that began to surface - in France, to some degree in Britain, and the European intelligentsia which has a tendency to look down on the United States as kind of inferior form of mass culture, that began to surface also."

NL: It is no secret that Europe and the United States do not agree on some major issues, such as global warming, globalism in general, the imposition of the death penalty, the role of the United Nations, or whether Turkey is a part of Europe.

According to popular Italian journalist and the author of this year's bestseller "Ciao, America" - Beppe Severgnini, who played the part of the defense in the American Institute's debate, Americans love to say: "You just don't get it'".

TAPE: CUT#6, SEVERGNINI,:06

"Anti-Americanism is on the rise in Europe and beyond, because Americans can't get their message across."

NL: He says the problems between the two continents started after the end of the Cold War with the emergence of America as a single superpower.

TAPE: CUT#7, SEVERGNINI, :42

"No more Soviet bear to fear, no need of huge expensive weapons. I know what you're thinking that you paid for those weapons, but believe me leaving nest to the bear wasn't comfortable either. It is obvious that America and Europe have decided to invest in peace dividend in different ways - defense took a back seat in the Europeans' mind. As most of you know - although our economies are roughly the same size, Europe's spends less than half what U-S spends on defense - it's 140 billion dollars against 350 billion. So if we decide that power and weakness are the only things that matter, we may stop here."

NL: Beppe Severgnini feels strongly that some world problems can be solved through other than military means.

TAPE: CUT#8, SEVERGNINI,:09

"The United States must resist basing foreign policy on hegemonic power - many of the problems effecting the world to solve by military means."

NL: The European reluctance to act militarily and the preference for sanctions and diplomacy might stem from the historical lessons that Europeans have collectively learned, namely its numerous and horrific continent-wide wars. This perception and sensitivity mighit be what prompted the U.S. policies of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder [G-AIR-hahrt SHRER-durr]. In response to the attacks of September 11, Gerhard Schoeder promised "unlimited solidarity" with the United States; but a year later, he won a second term by pledging his unconditional refusal to cooperate with America's possible war with Iraq. To many Europeans, it was just a part of the political campaign, since a majority of Germans were against the war anyway. But to Americans, it felt like betrayal. Joshua Muravchik admits that the European anti-Americanism traditionally has been always stronger among the intellectual elites.

TAPE: CUT#9, MURAVCHIK,:34

"But yet it has some resonance among the rank and file citizenry of European countries is demonstrated by chancellor Schroeder's successful tactic of coming from behind in his re-election campaign by making himself a symbol of anti-Americanism. In the campaign in which he spoke not about just disagreeing with U-S policy on Iraq, but in which he denounced U-S policy as an adventure."

NL: But to Beppe Severgnini, it meant only that Germany can again stand on its own two feet. He believes Germany regained its international authority after having been seen previously as a satellite of Washington.

TAPE: CUT#10, SEVERGNINI, :03

"Some people think about the war only when the U-S is involved."

NL: And some people feel that there are Americans who use allegations of anti-Americanism to further particular agendas. According to Beppe Severgnini, if we flipped the question, we might be asking ourselves - are some Americans anti-European?

TAPE: CUT#11, SEVERGNINI,:23

"Therefore on behalf of those who admire your optimism your determination, your sense of personal responsibility, your adorable illusion that man can control everything - let me ask you a blunt question: 'Are we anti-American or some of you anti-European? Americans often complain that Europe is divided and speaks with too many voices. But as soon as we try to unite, some in the U-S become suspicious."

NL: But the most "serious" charge levelled against America was giving up or limiting its diplomatic means to conduct a foreign policy. According to Beppe Severgnini, the United States lacks a sense of political finesse.

TAPE: CUT#12, SEVERGNINI,:17

"The things Americans and us are hard to understand are different; sometimes it is a matter of substance, sometimes a matter of perception, because let me be frank - the country that invented PR is so often amateurish in its public relations. If you don't care what your friends say -- pretend, at least (laughter)."

NL: The overall conclusion of the debate in the American Enterprise Institute ended on a positive note claiming that both sides have much in common and shouldn't allow others to put a wedge between the two continents.

TAPE: CUT#13, SEVERGNINI,:09

"The moral of the story is that you, cari Americani, may have an affair with other parts of the world, once it was Japan, soon it will be China, but you are married to us."

NL: There may be fights within a marriage, but no one feels that America and Europe are heading for a divorce. The recent episodes of anti-Americanism in Europe should be seen just as that episodic disagrement rather than a growing trend. And as in most divorces, the cost of separation could be unthinkable.

This edition of Dateline was written by Ania Zalewski. I'm Neal Lavon in Washington.

MUSIC: TU VUO' FA L'AMERICANO, CDP-20566, CUT 1, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, MATT DAMON, JUDE LAW, FIORELLO, THE GUY BARKER INTERNATIONAL QUINTET.