April, 2008
Does the World Hate America?
Ryan Pahota
There is belief in the United States (usually stemming from the left) that the world hates America, and America is the bully of the world. These ideas are strong in the Democratic platform of Sen. Barack Obama, who wishes to go abroad to the Middle East to have “talks” (we have seen how successful that has worked by Democratic leaders) with Iran in order to gain some respect in the world. These calls for “change” thus begs the question: Does the world hate the U.S.?
Using voter poll-results on the election of their respective country’s leaders, a consensus shows that more pro-American (and center-right) leaders are being placed into power. For example, in infamous France, Nicolas Sarkozy has replaced the anti-American Jacques Chirac, saying he denounces “French arrogance,” and, “It is bad manners to embarrass one’s allies or sound like one is taking delight in their troubles.” “Sarko,” as he is apt to be called, is willing to compromise with the U.S., a direct causation from Sarko being the leader of the Union for a Popular Movement, a right-wing party in France.
In the land down under, John Howard is in his reign as the longest Australian prime minister in office. He, too, is the member of a center-right party, the Liberal Party of Australia. Howard is a friend to the U.S., as seen by the sending of troops into Iraq and by punitive measures against terrorists. Back in Britian, Gordon Brown, though part of the Labour Party (a centre-left) is willing to continue to tradition of Tony Blair by remembering the “relationship between Britain and America,” conveying to us that even a more left political society is willing to compromise and befriend the United States.
The other major island player, this one in the Pacific, Japan has a center-right philosophy of the Liberal Democratic Party, electing Yasuo Fukuda as Prime Minister of Japan, a man seen taking pictures with President Bush and Robert Gates. Meanwhile in a promising change of spirit in Germany, Angela Merkel replaced the anti-American Gerhard Schröder (who, like Jacques Chirac, openly criticized the Iraq War.) Merkel is part of the Christian Democratic Union, a rival to the popular Social Democratic Party of Germany, which has its roots in conservatism. Merkel has been compared to Margaret Thatcher, who was pro-American and friends with then-President Ronald Reagan.
Thus, while the media love to keep people in fear, saying that the world hates America, the reality is the more left regimes are being replaced by pro-American right-leaning ones. The reality is that, while the media love to show the evils of America, they fail to show the work of missionaries and humanitarians that go out in the world and intervene — by apostatizing or by delivering of services like the American Red Cross. The reality is that, while the media trumpet the mistakes of the Iraq War, a Kurdish girl is sitting in a classroom learning, and Iraqis are casting ballots into politics that are fairer than when under Sadaam Hussein. The reality is that, while the media paint the target on the United States’ back, the United States gathers support from its friends all around the globe. It shows the world does not hate America, but the media want you to believe it does to promote their own agenda.