Europe and America

Guest article by Louis M. M. Coiffait

Anti-Americanism is again fashionable, acceptable and common across Europe. This is hardly a new phenomenon; European critiques of America pre-date even its founding, and have come from both socialists and conservatives. However such critiques (should) only earn the label anti-Americanism once they become irrational and habitual, akin to the other -isms. And they often have; anti-Americanism has grown to become dangerously high within Europe today. The rallying cries are varied: arrogance, greed, cultural imperialism, reckless foreign policy, corrupt morality, callous use of power, ignorance, military might or religion. How many of these charges are correct? The answer is all of them, and none. That is the problem with anti-Americanism as a concept. It is too simplistic. How can one word, one viewpoint, truly represent a country of such scale, variety and power? It can’t. Yet that is exactly what is happening today in the United Kingdom, the rest of the European Union, and in the wider world.

Another problem with anti-Americanism is that its irrationality invalidates genuine critiques. Biased, unsupported complaints obscure genuine, constructive ones. How can America respond effectively to the torrent of hatred sent its way each and every day? Yes, America is partly guilty of all the ills cited above. Its power magnifies its actions to such an extent that no single person or organisation within or without the country can comprehend its actions or steer them. This is why it needs ‘critical friends’ so badly. But if critics make no attempt at being fair, at understanding their target, at entering into debate, then they are only inflaming the situation on both sides. Love it or loathe it, America has the economic and military might—if nothing else—to remain top-dog for a long while yet. It is in the interests of every European, of every non-American, to influence such power in a positive way.

In reality anti-Americanism is a political word, saying more about the holder of the opinion than the target. In Europe it often represents ignorance and arrogance at least equal to any Yank. It can stem from fear or envy. Sometimes it represents resistance to change, to modernity and to the unknown. It has become a slogan for many, a catchphrase which unites a broad church of often incompatible opinions. In Britain, as elsewhere in Europe, America has repeatedly been a scapegoat for both the Right’s fear of change and the Left’s fear of rampant commercialism. In America itself it is equally used to brand ‘Leftists’, ‘Old Europe’ and a thankless world. Again the debate is polarised, and so becomes irrelevant to genuine progress. It is time we Europeans, the supposedly cultured ancestors of modernity, discard this unhelpful propaganda permanently.

Why? What are the consequences for Europe of this creeping bigotry? They are all bad. We risk alienating one of our most important allies further. We encourage radical responses from within and without America. We place our own continent at risk and do so purely for lack of subtlety and forethought. And we risk using America as a scapegoat for our own problems. So next time you hear an American accent, think a little about what you, as a European citizen, can do to look after your own interests.

Louis M. M. Coiffait was Roosevelt Scholar at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge (2006-2007). His thesis was in Anglo-American relations.