Anti-Americanism

Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a sentiment that espouses a dislike of or opposition to the American government or its policies, especially in regards to its foreign policy, or to Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor of 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 evolving to more politically-based criticism. French scholar Marie-France Toinet says 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.' Discussions on anti-Americanism have in most cases lacked a precise explanation of what the sentiment entails (other than a general disfavour), which has led to the term being used broadly and in an impressionistic manner, resulting in the inexact impressions of the many expressions described as anti-American. Author and expatriate William Russell Melton described that criticism for the United States largely originates from the perception that the U.S. wants to act as a 'world policeman.' Negative or critical views of the United States' influence are widespread in Russia, Serbia, the Middle East, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea, but remain low in Vietnam, Israel, the Philippines, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Korea, and certain countries in central and eastern Europe. As of 2018, countries in the European Union (EU) with the most positive opinions of the U.S. are Poland (79%), followed by Romania (78%), Lithuania 74% and Hungary (68%), according to Eurobarometer. In the online Oxford Dictionary the term 'anti-Americanism' is defined as 'Hostility to the interests of the United States'. In the first edition of Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) the term 'anti-American' was defined as 'opposed to America, or to the true interests or government of the United States; opposed to the revolution in America'. In France the use of the noun form antiaméricanisme has been catalogued from 1948, entering ordinary political language in the 1950s.