ABSTRACT
In this chapter I examine the global power of the United States as a source of anti-Americanism. At first sight, it may seem obvious to suppose that there is a direct link between them. The powerful are always resented by the weak. Why should the United States, whose economic, military and political powers surpass that of any other country since the collapse of the Roman Empire, be any different? I will argue that the rise of anti-Americanism cannot be explained by American power considered in isolation from how that power is employed – what might be called US ‘grand strategy’ whose military dimensions are explored by Andrew O’Neil in chapter eight – and the global context in which it is used to shape outcomes. Contemporary manifestations of anti-Americanism are in part a substitute for the old balance of power in world politics. In the past, the response of weak states in the face of the strong was to fashion countervailing alliances against them. This is no longer possible, or even desirable except as a rhetorical strategy to appease popular feelings of anti-Americanism. If antiAmericanism is in part a symptom of impotence rather than mere weakness, one could argue that it does not matter very much. Unfortunately for the United States, it matters a great deal because of the goals that the United States has set out as central to its prospects for winning the ‘war on terror’. As I shall argue, these goals are mutually contradictory.
