Post 9/11 Europe: All Americans, then anti-American

By Dan Froomkin
froomkin@niemanwatchdog.org

European Nieman fellows blame President Bush for squandering goodwill in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Much of the criticism is centered around Bush’s human rights record – but some of it is just personal.

In all, 34 current and past Nieman fellows from 23 countries took part in a one-question e-mail survey done by this Web site on the occasion of its second anniversary. The question was:

Please share with us your thoughts about people’s main perceptions of America where you live, and how their perceptions have changed in recent years, say since 9/11.

Françoise Lazare writes from France, remembering how the editor of her paper, Le Monde, spoke for an entire continent when he wrote on September 13, 2001: "We are all Americans.” But in the following years, France, like many other countries, soured on President Bush’s Middle East policies.

Agnes Bragadóttir writes from Iceland: “Right after the attack on the Twin Towers and for some months after that, there was huge sympathy and support for the American nation here in Iceland, as well as in the rest of the world, or most parts of it, to my understanding. The thing is, that your own President, Mr. Bush, seems to be the root of the change of perspective in Iceland. People have become extremely negative toward the President, the ideology of War Against Terrorism, of the USA behaving like the Police of the World, being above law and order in practically every sense, at least in any sense the USA government chooses to be.”

Guenter Haaf writes from Germany that Iraq changed everything. “The U.S. is viewed widely as an internationally insensible bully. Only a minority of Germans, mostly with personal experience in the U.S. and of some in-depth knowledge of U.S. history, still hope that U.S. domestic political checks-and-balance will eventually correct the internationally harmful course of the Bush II administration.

The fond memories of the Americans as friends helping this nation to find its path back to civilization after WWII is fading.”

Pekka Mykkänen writes from Finland: “After the war in Iraq and many scandals, such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, that have followed, the Finns have become extremely suspicious of America, more suspicious than many other European nations. According to the Eurobarometer poll in November 2003, Finns saw the United States as the greatest threat to world peace – ahead of North Korea, Iran or Iraq.”

And some of it is distinctly personal. Daniel Samper writes from Spain: “Spain has always been a very anti-American country, but Bill Clinton was considered an intelligent and open person, two things that can't be said of Bush. “

Kirsty Milne writes from Great Britain: “My observation is that there has been a generational shift from being pro-American by instinct to anti-American by default….

“The turning point would not have been 9/11, as your question suggests, but Iraq...  Iraq may have been the wake-up call that makes Britain look across the Channel instead of across the Atlantic.”

Dan Froomkin is the deputy editor of the Nieman Watchdog Project. He is also Senior Washington Correspondent for the Huffington Post. E-mail: froomkin@niemanwatchdog.org

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