Anti-Americanism

Anti-Americanism (also known as anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and positions, including opposition to, fear of, distrust of, prejudice against, or hatred toward the United States, its federal government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Anti-Americanism can be contrasted with pro-Americanism, which refers to support, love, or admiration for the United States.

The political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centre in Australia suggests that "anti-Americanism" cannot be isolated as a consistent phenomenon, since the term originated as a rough composite of stereotypes, prejudices, and criticisms that evolved into more politically-based criticisms. The French scholar Marie-France Toinet says that use of the term "anti-Americanism" is "only fully justified if it implies systematic opposition – a sort of allergic reaction – to America as a whole." Some scholars frequently accused of anti-American biases, such as Noam Chomsky and Nancy Snow, have argued that the application of the term "anti-American" to other countries or their populations is 'nonsensical' as it implies that disliking the American government or its policies is socially undesirable or even comparable to a crime. In this regard, the term has been likened to the propagandistic usage of the term "anti-Sovietism" in the Soviet Union.

Discussions on anti-Americanism have, in most cases, lacked a precise explanation of what the sentiment entails (other than a general disfavor), which has led the term to be used broadly and in an impressionistic manner, resulting in the inexact impressions of the many expressions described as anti-American. The author and expatriate William Russell Melton argues that criticism largely originates from the perception that the U.S. wants to act as a "world policeman". Anti-Americanism has also been identified with the term Americanophobia, which Merriam-Webster defines as "hatred of the U.S. or American culture".

Negative, hostile, distrustful, or critical views of the United States, its influence, or the American people have been historically present across numerous regions and countries worldwide. Nowadays, they have been the strongest and most widespread in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, and several countries in the Greater Middle East region, including Tunisia and Turkey, but remain low in India, Israel, the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, Sub-Saharan Africa (especially Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria), and numerous countries in central and eastern Europe (especially Albania, Hungary, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine). Additionally, anti-Americanism has been present in several Western countries, including Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, although to a lesser extent than in countries like Pakistan or Russia. Moreover, anti-American sentiments have been relatively high among citizens of some Latin American countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela.