–Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own–
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fifty years ago, a pair of American writers published a novel that trained a critical spotlight on U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. The book, by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick, became a bestseller and its title, “The Ugly American,” turned into an enduring label.
It’s been a dual-purpose label, first primarily pasted on inept American officials abroad and later on the kind of traveler who would irritate the natives with boorish manners and garish clothes, feeding anti-American sentiments around the globe.
Will they disappear, or fade, after the United States elected as its next president a black man who has described himself as a citizen of the world? The euphoric international reaction to Barack Obama’s victory suggest that America’s star will shine more brightly, at least temporarily, than it has in decades.
As Obama put it in his victory speech: “A new dawn of American leadership is at hand.”
Within minutes of the results, American television viewers were treated to what have become rare images from abroad: large crowds happily waving - rather than burning - American flags.
Cheers for a charismatic young man who said his election showed that “America is a place where all things are possible” came from countries where a similar feat is a difficult to imagine. A French president of Algerian extraction? A Turk as German chancellor? A prime minister of Pakistani descent running Britain? A Moluccan in charge of the Netherlands?
“Everywhere I’ve been this year - from Jerusalem to Japan to Colombia to Italy and back again - I’ve heard people essentially say that America is an overweight white plutocrat who is not only out of touch with the world but also shows no signs of wanting to grow closer to it,” the British writer Pico Iyer said in an essay in Time magazine.
The image, he said, was unfair but potent.
What better antidote to the idea of an out-of-touch overweight white plutocrat than a rake-thin black president who says he wants to “build new bridges across the world” and is seen by many as the incarnation of “cool.”
PRESIDENTIAL IMAGE-MAKING POWER
There are already voices who say the global goodwill Obama now enjoys cannot last and that there are limits to what a president can do to change the United States’ image. True enough, but there is no better example than President George W. Bush of a U.S. leader’s tremendous power to affect perceptions.
The speed with which he managed to turn almost universal sympathy for the United States after September 11, 2001, into almost universal detestation was remarkable. By 2004, goodwill had evaporated so completely that a British mass circulation newspaper, the Daily Mirror, marked Bush’s re-election with a front page that showed a picture of the president over the headline “How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?”
No such rebukes for the American electorate in 2008. What was remarkable in 2008 was how quickly Americans abroad sensed a change of mood. On the night of November 4, American expatriates posted jubilant messages to social networking sites like Facebook saying it was cool to be American again.
Some expressed relief at no longer having to pretend to be Canadian, a long-time ruse to avoid being stereotyped. It is particularly popular among Americans of backpack-travel age and among those traveling in areas where anti-American sentiment runs particularly high.
Numerous opinion polls have tracked the steady decline of America’s image. One, in April 2008 by the BBC and the University of Maryland, found that people in 23 countries saw the United States’ influence in the world more negatively than that of North Korea. Hello, Washington, you have a problem!
Almost all the surveys point to foreign policy — the war in Iraq, the scandal of the Abu Ghraib prison, Guantanamo — as the principal reasons for disenchantment. While that front has been static, private organizations have launched various initiatives to tackle the image problem on a more personal level.
The non-profit organization Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), for example, has distributed more than 200,000 copies of its “World Citizen’s Guide” to corporate travelers, with 16 tips that are a mirror image of the behavioral patterns that earned Americans a boorish reputation in the first place.
BDA’s founder, advertising executive Keith Reinhard, is convinced that “our collective personality is one of the causes of anti-Americanism. We are seen as loud, arrogant and completely self-absorbed.”
Fifty years later, that echoes a character in “The Ugly American”: “A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land…They are loud and ostentatious. Perhaps they are frightened and defensive; or maybe they are not properly trained and make mistakes out of ignorance.”
Another job on the president-elect’s long list of things to change.
(You can contact the author at Debusmann@Reuters.com)
(Illustration by Brice Hall)
Do you want to contribute to The Great Debate? Please send your ideas to debate@thomsonreuters.com.
There's only so much a president, or American expatriates, or private public diplomacy groups can do to change anti-American feelings. It seems to me there's a good bit of resentment and envy that simply stems from the fact the the U.S. is powerful and its citizens rich, by comparison to others. It's the price to pay to be part of an empire. The Brits in their heyday were unpopular, too, as were the Romans. Not to speak of citizens of the late Soviet empire, compared with whom Americans were seen as free-spending angels, even clad in Hawaii shirts.
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Don’t you know that it is american liberal media and Holiwood which created that image of a dumb american?
Don’t you know how international media, especially european
one pushes that image overseas ? Russians and arabs are very happy to participate.
President Bush was an epicenter.
Envy is a reason. With Barack Obama which they put on the throne, they got their wish - he will do everything to destroy a real America - economy, culture, faith, borders,
freedom, independence, peace… It might never be the same.
I want to be wrong!
As a Canadian, it will be a relief not to have so many Americans calling themselves one of us. I mean, it kind of lowers the tone, somewhat. A deep, core, Canadian value is that we are much better than the Americans. Although I’m an exception in being rude enough to state this obvious fact out loud.
Who are these materialistic Americans, John Mack? The people I know care about God, family and country…not their next purchase. I contend that you don’t know any real Americans and that this is yet another theory you have gleaned from watching the liberal American no-nothing news media. Why don’t you try to get your head around this, the U.S. news media does not tell the truth…only their skewed view of how things are “supposed to be.”
And by the way, most people in the world are pretty ignorant, not just Americans. But of course we get judged more harshly since our country is so open to others.
Take it from me, a former ugly American, I’ve been replaced by the German: brash, loud, crashing parties, drunk, racially challenged and arrogant. Not all, of course, like all Americans were not like me, but quite a few. The French still have memories of the German Occupation, and Italy would prefer the German go elsewhere, as one of Italy’s Tourist muckedy mucks has publicly stated. Any way, with the Euro out of sight, Europeans don’t have to deal with me any more. Too much for a gelato now-a-days.
I’d like to see how the long the rest of the world lasts without the “Ugly American” dollar and humanitarian support.
Even you Switzerland.
Apparently Mr. Debussman believes everything he sees on T.V. Crowds around the world cheering, rather than burning the American flag on election night? Uh-huh..sure. Would everyone please stop watching politically motivated TV news coverage and start thinking?
Who cares what the British rag “The Daily Mirror” said about the Bush re-election? I was no big fan of it either, but WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT US? Certainly no one seems to care about what we think of them generally, and that’s the way it should be.
I have a strong suspicion Mr. Debussman is very concerned about what people think of him. It is reflected in his writing and in his opinions about America on the world stage.
Ted Slazyk: Now that we are getting into intra-European squabbles, do you really think that the brash, loud, party-crashing Germans are more irritating than the pot-bellied,loud, brash, always-complaining, vomiting-in-public-places, red-faced Brits are any better? Maybe you should visit some Spanish beach resorts, where the Krauts and the Brits are competing for the crown of obnoxiousness.And what about the obnoxious, loud, brash, ignorant, ex-Soviet throw-around-your-money Russians you now find from everywhere, from Jerusalem and Haifa to Orlando and Riviera Maya in Mexico. Give me an Ugly7 American any day!
I have lived and worked overseas, primarily in the Middle East for several years and travelled extensiverly throughout Europe and the US. Based on these experiences I have found that local residents of non-US countries are basically the same as US citizens. It depends on whether you meet people in urban or rural areas, meet people at airports or private residence, meet them at tourist or non-tourist areas However, the governments or politicos of the countries they reside influence the general media because they want what they can get from the US to gain or stay in power; or, they want to keep the US values from influencing the local citizens. Residents in the more developed countries seem to be more immune to the media however, the residents in the less developed countries seem to be more receptive to the medai reports that are negative toward the US. So, it’s not that they don’t like Americans so much as it is they don’t like Government of the US who they portray as big, powerful, arrogant and aggressive. We should all understand that what’s written in the media is the results basically of what the Governments and diplomats and wannabe leaders are broadcasting.
Bernd Debusmann is correct when he says that Obama may mitigate the ugly american syndrome. Specifically, I read the book, “The Ugly American”, and it was about a good American who was unattractive physically and yet very popular with local people he was living with. He was known for treating people with respect and by his good example, he kept the communists trying to encroach in the community.
We American voters have successfully made a strategical victory when we elected Barack Obama. He is the only candidate endorsed by both Jewish and Palestinian groups. Lack of progress, or even sincere effort, by President Bush was the number one excuse for Al Qaida to recruit new members. Barack Obama can reverse that trend.
Our strategic interests in Africa seemed hopeless last month. We couldn’t even keep a simple command center on the continent. Now American troops will be welcome as honest power brokers. We can now prevent genocide, and human rights violations by private and state owned oil companies without having to actually fight a war. Now THAT is a strategic victory.
Many of our detractors around the world CORRECTLY criticized our racial inequality and would use that to wrongly continue their own abuse of power. That excuse is also evaporating.
The Bush administration, and in particular Dick Chaney, have been suspected of being tools of Rex Tillerman of ExxonMobil. Barack Obama has a mandate to decentralize the world of energy away from simply fossil fuels. The price of gas would be too expensive even if it was free, as long as soldiers have to fight wars for it. Also, by decentralizing away from oil it frees us to spread democracy where it will most likely be welcome instead of being forced on a population. THAT is strategic victory.
Generally, I find Americans are well-meaning but a bit ignorant as they tend not to be very curious about the world outside their borders. I can’t blame them. If I lived in a country that offered everything I could possibly want or need I wouldn’t feel the need to look elsewhere either. A typical American reaction to this statement would be “You’re just jealous”, but I am not. My quality of life is not defined by what I own, it’s a materialistic mentality that I have never aspired to. Most Americans can’t get their head around that.
Mr. Debusmann should get out more. Having visited more
than 70 countries and lived in 5, I can say that genuine
anti-Americanism is relatively rare on the street. Of course many countries such as the Philippines have their reliable cluster if anti-American protestors providing photo-opportunities for media types. To be sure however, there are quite a few traveling Americans willing to feed stereotypes of the ugly American, and there seems to be little “national resentment’ towards traveling Europeans, no matter how much resentment is felt towards them personally.
This idea of the “Ugly American” is blatantly ludicrous and perpetuated by very ignorant people of all sorts. There are Ugly Americans, Ugly Germans, Ugly French and yes Ugly Swiss people (UBS CEOs come to mind).. as far as I know Debusmann can also be characterized as an Ugly Reuters Columnist..
What we need in this world is to refrain from judgment.. look in the mirror before you call someone “ugly”
“Some [American expatriates] expressed relief at no longer having to pretend to be Canadian, a long-time ruse to avoid being stereotyped.”
We Canadians are also expressing relief at that. In all my years of traveling, I have never met a Canadian masquerading as an American - only the reverse. It makes me angry when I meet an American who, on the one hand, espouses how great it is to be from the USA, while on the other hand is ready to hide behind my flag while traveling in certain parts of the world. These bogus Canucks are easy to expose, of course - just ask them who the Prime Minister is. (What is a loonie? Who is the lead singer of Tragically Hip?
I am proud and happy and VERY thankful to be a Canadian, and will gladly remain one for the rest of my life. And yes, I have a Canadian flag sewn onto my backpack.
I think Americans are ignorant. The ignorant on how bd their foreign policy really is. For the example of Iraq to understate its negative effects on the world is racist. A million iraqis are dead, two million refugees and 5,000 brave US soldiers. Yet Americans dont even get to see US soldiers pictures on tv of funerals. Bottom line is that most Americans have no idea whats going on in the world or even their country. Mexicans and blacks are living in third world conditions and many in jail. Americans need to wake up because thats not democracy. They are frankly a militarized nation that fights for oil and not humanitarian causes. Its a farce.
Arrogant? Maybe a little. But, then again, we twice kept Western Europe from becoming part of the German Empire during the last century. Oh, and then there was that pesky Cold War thingy where the USA managed to keep the USSR from overtaking Western Europe. The Western Europeans may think we’re arrogant, and maybe we are. But, anyone can see that they are ungrateful for what the USA has done for them over the last century. Don’t you find it amazing how Europeans revel in their history and keep alive the memories of centuries-old wrongs, yet they gloss over the fact that their lives would be TOTALLY different if not for the USA choosing not to be an isolationist state. Hey, France! You’ve got (at the most) 40 years before you’re an Islamic state. Check your birthrate data. Then all of your art museums and wine regions will be shut down due to Sharia law. Wake up!
Here’s an idea since everyone hates us anyway. Let’s take our $ and our troops and our attitudes and go home. Let the rest of the world fend for itself. One of the main reasons our economy is a wreck is that for 70 years we have been doling out cash to the rest of the world. I didn’t see anyone jump in to help us after 9/11. Oh I forgot that was our fault too. The only place I want to see in the world outside of the US is the American Cemetary in Normandy that is of course unless they hate the fact that we spilled so much blood on their soil.
I am proud to be an American. I am proud of all that is good in this Country. Every Country has it’s faults. Every Country has citizens that do not represent the Country well. I consider myself to be a good person. When I travel I immerse myself in the Country I am inand do my best to learn their language and experince their culture. I thinkit is unfair to label an etire Country as ugly when only a small percentage of it’s citizens are truly ugly. People always criticize America for some of their foreign policy decisions, but what about the good side of that? Americans donate a lot of money to world charities or in response to disasters. American relief groups respond worldwide to disasters, even in Countries such as Iran. Americans contribute so much in the areas of medicine, science, technology, and yes even environmental concerns. America is a large place with many people from may Countries. Do not paint us with such a broad brush. In doing this you are doing the exact thing you say Americans are guilty of… that is saying you are better than us. We are all mbers of the human race. We are all imperfect. We all need to try a little bit harder to make this world a better place. Saying Americans are ugly is not a good start.
Dear Fecundo,
I have the chance to live in Switzerland. Here, the “anti-american” feeling is really strong, and I can assure you it’s not cause by the envy of a richer country, because our country is one of the richest in the world and our life level is much more higher than in USA. The feeling is coming from the disgust we can have when we see how USA is interacting with the world, and how arrogant US citizens can be sometimes.
I know that the situation is different in almost all countries in the world, and a lot of people everywhere dream of a life in the USA, specially if they come from poor countries. But it’s normal, USA is a big country with 300millions of habitants, who welcomes every year a lot of immigrants, and for anybody who wants to emigrate for a better life, USA will be a logical choice because it’s relatively easy to go there (I mean, even if you don’t have a work permit or green card) , much more easy than emigrating to Switzerland for example (as we are a little country and we cannot receive a lot of immigrants each year). Moreover, people coming from poor countries doesn’t have a real, or good knowledge of what is the real situation in USA, as they might have a relatively limited access to medias and there’s still a lot of mythology about the famous “american dream”, so I think it’s normal that so many people wants to live in USA. Life level and standards in USA are still interesting for most of the people in the world because unfortunately life is harder in their country.
But I am sure that if you have, let’s say 100 candidates for emigration from third world, and you give them complete information about life in USA and life in Switzerland, and you give them the right to chose between the 2 countries, more than 80 of these people will chose Switzerland (or another european country)
On my first comment I wrote that it was really stupid to think it’s the envy who motivates anti-US feelings and this is exactly this complex of superiority who fuels these feelings: US citizens believe that their country is soooo better than the others countries, though most of them didn’t visit any foreign country.
I worked 3 years for an US company, with a lot of American colleagues and managers, and these people were treating local employees like shit, they were absolutely not interessed about the culture and langages of the country they were living in: some of them were even not able to speak one word of french or german after years passed in the country. They were all saying that USA is the best place in the world, but all of them also where enchanted of the contitions of working in my country and didn’t want to go back to US;-)) I know it’s not the behaviour of all of them, but of most or Americans citizen abroad.
I think there’s actually an enormous difference of point of view about how US citizens see themselves, and how they are seen by the rest of the world. For example, when we think about the first image coming to our mind about Irak war, most of the US citizens will remember the fall of Saddam Hussein Statue and the “liberation” of Irak, but most of the people in the rest of the world will remember the pictures of Abu Ghraib prisonners…
I am not an America-basher, I admit that USA can produce admirable things and can always surprise the world positively, but I think that still too many US citizens are completely ignorant about the rest of the world and arrogant, and in that case a littlebit more humility would be really a good thing for everybody…
well said, Robert. Just like a true American.
I spend 200 days out of the year traveling to different parts of the world as a public speaker. Once in a while I will run into a “rude American” who is raising their voice in a hotel lobby while they are discussing business on their cell phone or I might find a “rude American” voicing their opinion in an airport after their bags have been lost. But, I must say that while these individuals are not our best ambassadors, most Americans I run into have a genuine respect for the people they meet and the countries they visit. It is unfortunate that the world looks at the obnoxious few and believes that this is typical. Before you express your own opinions of the “Ugly American” let me ask you this. Out of all the nations in the world, which country would you say spends more money each year, decade after decade, towards helping their starving, homeless, thirsty and helpless neighbors? Not only that, but this country offers these generous gifts not as a loan but a sign of good faith while the rest of the world returns to us not food, water or aide, but harsh criticisms of behaviors that are as unfair as the media who reports it.