Arrogance
The latest "Foreign Policy" has an article by Anne Applebaum about anti-Americanism (and pro-Americanism) in the world. It's accompanied by a map showing the results of a worldwide poll attributed to "Program on International Policy Attitudes." The poll shows how people in various major nations responded when asked, among a list of countries, "who is having a mainly positive or negative influence in the world."
And of course it shows a low regard for America in most places.Heck, even in the U.S., Britain scores a higher positive (78) and a lower negative (15) than the U.S. itself (71/25). But that's what drew me into this map: the fact that many of the countries surveyed also were the ones on the question list. So 71 percent of Americans think their own country is a mainly positive force in the world. Typical Yankee arrogance, eh?
Well, compare and contrast: In France, a whopping 86 percent say their nation is "having a mainly positive influence in the world." More arrogant than America? Seems to. But the Chinese are more arrogant still -- 90 percent of them give their country a "mainly positive" rating.
In Russia, only 8 percent think their country has a "mainly negative" influence in the world, less than one third the percentage that said so, about the U.S., in the U.S. In fact, no other nation, among those both asked and asked about, gave itself a higher percentage of "negative" ratings than the great hegemonic bully, America. And none of the other national populations did what Americans did and give the highest positive rating to a country other than itself.
And of course it shows a low regard for America in most places.Heck, even in the U.S., Britain scores a higher positive (78) and a lower negative (15) than the U.S. itself (71/25). But that's what drew me into this map: the fact that many of the countries surveyed also were the ones on the question list. So 71 percent of Americans think their own country is a mainly positive force in the world. Typical Yankee arrogance, eh?
Well, compare and contrast: In France, a whopping 86 percent say their nation is "having a mainly positive influence in the world." More arrogant than America? Seems to. But the Chinese are more arrogant still -- 90 percent of them give their country a "mainly positive" rating.
In Russia, only 8 percent think their country has a "mainly negative" influence in the world, less than one third the percentage that said so, about the U.S., in the U.S. In fact, no other nation, among those both asked and asked about, gave itself a higher percentage of "negative" ratings than the great hegemonic bully, America. And none of the other national populations did what Americans did and give the highest positive rating to a country other than itself.
