| jump to |
REBUILDING AMERICA'S REPUTATION IS A LONG-TERM UNDERTAKING
Should Americans criticize our country when abroad?
Shaunti Feldhahn, a right-leaning columnist, writes the commentary this week, and Andrea Sarvady, a left-leaning columnist, responds.
I am grieved at how poorly America is perceived around the globe. I had hoped that President Obama would use his immense foreign popularity to challenge the unjustified misconceptions that have built up over the years. But his recent overtures to other countries risk confirming their suspicions.
It is one thing for Americans to take responsibility for ways we have failed -- to say that we aren't perfect. It is an entirely different thing to try to find equal ground by downplaying the barbarism of terrorists and magnifying our own problems out of proportion. Obama's June speech to the Muslim world compared the CIA's involvement in Iran 50 years ago with that of Iran's decades-long regime of terror, saying, "Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians." As Charles Krauthammer incredulously repeated in The Washington Post: "'Played a role?!'"
Recently, I asked one of my non-American friends why America was perceived so poorly. He said:
"People like me grew up very aware that things weren't equal in the world -- that one country had far more wealth and power. But we all knew that America and its people were good. At least this giant power used its power well. But today, people no longer trust that America is good and will use its power well. And that leads to fear and hatred."
The worry about whether we are "good" did not just start with our war on terror. As Nile Gardiner at the Heritage Foundation explained in a recent interview:
"Anti-Americanism has been around for a long time. The notion that George W. Bush created this sentiment is simply ludicrous."
With 24-hour television, those who unreasonably hate us will always have a venue to spread lies and encourage others to do the same. It is naive to believe otherwise. So when Americans broadcast moral ambivalence about our great country, it only makes the perception worse. Perhaps I am myself naive, but I continue to hope our popular new leaders will use their platform to broadcast the message we used to share proudly -- that we are a good country and we do want to use our power well.
Because if our own leadership doesn't seem to believe that, no one else will.
When George W. Bush left office, he gave many exit interviews with the press, often showing a more reflective side of his nature. Asked by ABC news about the reasons for Obama's win he responded, in part, with, "I think most people voted for Barack Obama because they decided they wanted him to be in their living room for the next four years explaining policy."
President Bush was right, and the current president's speech in Cairo was a prime example of why so many of us picked Obama for explainer in chief. Obama's race speech during the campaign gave us a hint of something that his Middle East speech confirmed: Controversial topics bring out his particular gift for dialogue that both commands respect and fosters understanding. In fact, Shaunti's description of the speech was so unlike my memory of it that I read it again, to see if maybe the diplomatic yet uncompromising talk I recall was in fact a simpering apology for decades of ugly Americanism.
Well, not so much. Violent extremists are pounded on Page 1, and unfair stereotypes foisted on America are expunged by Page 2. Different groups are addressed throughout the speech, but hardly with equivalency. Al-Qaida is demonized, whereas Israelis and Palestinians are simply asked to eschew violence and acknowledge each other's right to a peaceful existence.
As Shaunti's friend said, "people no longer trust that America is good and will use its power well." Countless polls bear that out, showing that although anti-American sentiment is nothing new, it spiked significantly since our involvement in Iraq.
Fortunately, that tone is softening. A McClatchy/Ipsos poll conducted in six Arab nations found that citizens feel Obama will have a positive impact on the Middle East, even though their opinion of the U.S. remains low. The poll's synopsis suggests that "there is an opportunity for the president to literally 'bridge the gap' where his repository of good will lifts the good will towards America."
Obama's poll numbers worldwide are bound to have a positive impact. Still, I don't think his talents in this arena will comfort all those grieving about our international reputation. For some mourners, the pain isn't made worse by how the message is delivered, but by who gets to be the messenger.
Andrea (ASarvad@gmail.com) is a writer and educator specializing in counseling, and a married mother of three. Shaunti (scfeldhahn@yahoo.com) is a conservative Christian author and speaker, and married mother of two children.
