[Opinion] Why World Dislikes America?

“The world is hoping to see American leadership, leadership by a country that preserves such values as freedom, justice and equality…. The greatest value Americans export is freedom, and we are responsible for advocating freedom throughout the world.” George W. Bush addressed to the country. Freedom, justice and equality are values held dear not only by Americans but also by people across the world. No one objects to the idea of spreading those values throughout the world. Yet, many people in many countries do not seem to be happy about the way Bush and Americans deal with the issue.

▷ The world has grown discontent with the only superpower country for the last two years, suggests a broad international survey jointly conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project and the International Herald Tribune from July through October this year among 380 million people in 44 countries. U.S. popularity fell by 4 to 16% in seven North and South American countries except Canada and Guatemala. The popularity was also slipping in its key ally Britain. The dislike was noticeable not only in Islamic countries but also through North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, Eastern Europe and developing countries.

▷ Although the survey did not specifically mentioned the name Bush, most people who grew unhappy about the U.S. were pointing their fingers at him. anti-American sentiment these days is more like anti-Bush sentiment. Last month, a top aide to Prime Minister of Canada, one of the U.S.’ closest allies, resigned after calling Bush `a moron.` The aide, after her unofficial remark was leaked through the media, submitted a letter of resignation, which was turned down by the prime minister. Considering the relationship with the U.S, however, the prime minister finally accepted the resignation. And it happened in a country that sends 85% of its export volumes to the U.S.

▷ Bush reportedly played down the results of the survey by saying it was due to lopsided attitudes by foreign media. His response stands in stark contrast to the fact that a group of specialists is doing research on growing anti-American sentiment under direction of State Department. Bush might have had in mind that the organization was led by Madeline Albright who served as secretary of state in the Clinton administration. Given that the survey was translated into 63 different languages and the polls were mostly done face-to-face, the results hold true. We have been heard before, however, that Bush doesn’t like reading newspaper editorials and hardly pays attention to what experts say on TV.

Mun Myung-ho, Editorial Writer, munmh97@donga.com