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January 13, 2005
America and its adverse International Community
Concerning the recent 2004 U.S. Presidential elections, the Independent from the British Daily aptly wrote, "America has voted for Bush, and the world must live with the consequences." In reflecting upon growing international anti-American sentiment and the role America must face in the imminent future, it is this type of rhetoric that leaves many questioning the new role America will by in the 21st Century.
In Europe, faith in U.S. government is far common belief. European-U.S. relations undeniably point to a bleak future as a once “long time ally” now has become a distant threat. Rumors of European alienation, largely due to George W. Bush’s reelection has been the talk of the town, especially in France, where President Jacques Chirac has “almost always said no to Washington” with regards to France in response to American proposals concerning current foreign policy issues. Perhaps such anti-American resentment is justified however, in lieu of the radical shift of American Republican politics seems to be heading.
Though America has won over some support in the greater European areas, including Tony Blair’s Great Britain (a long standing supporter of American government), Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, much is still at stake in the eyes of the international community at large. A looming fear seems to be settling in across European borders concerning America’s newly adapted support towards a more conservative Republican Party, strongly rooted in Christian ideals, as shown in Bush’s overwhelming conservative vote.
In fact, according to the Yale Global Online, “The European Union is proud of having shed extremism, exacerbated nationalism, and religious fundamentalism: The notion of the world divided between Good and Evil is perceived with dread, and religious practice is slowly fading away. Nothing underlines the cultural gulf better than the recent European Parliament rejection of a highly religious Italian commissioner candidate. He had publicly condemned homosexuality as a sin and stated that women should stay at home and bear children. Having rejected such views in their midst, European politicians find the influence of conservative religion in American politics extremely difficult to grasp.” (“US Election and the World.” Yale Global Online. 8 November 2004.)
Issues like abortion and gay-marriage continue to raise voices in the U.S. as rejection of pro-gay marriage legislation has become the norm. For many years now however, the U.S. has been a model of modernity in the eyes of the rest of the world. Thus, the increasingly baffled expressions should not shock us when Bush’s religiosity seems more similar to Middle Eastern ties to conservatism than to anything else remotely ‘modern.’ People are shocked by America’s tenacity to “values,” as religious fervor seems a battle of the past. Nonetheless, it is happening as we speak, perhaps revealing a cyclical trend human nature tends to resort to in dealing with questions “larger than themselves.”
Prior to the election results, many saw the European public in favor of John Kerry, as The Economist, (considered a rather conservative European magazine), endorsed the Democratic candidate, along with many politicians in France.
The growing adversity in the international community at large with regards to the reelection of George W. Bush looks bleak, particularly with regards to his foreign policy measures in Iraq. Though it is difficult to gage what the future has in store for the decline of the American hegemon, perhaps this is the beginning of a greater message that Europe will play a much larger role in world politics in the coming decade.
Posted by Stephanie Marie Lowe at January 13, 2005 2:31 AM