Europeans Fear the Influence of Uncle Sam

A study recently released by the European Commission shows that many Europeans believe that the United States is having a negative influence in world politics and are joined by more than half of the 32,000 American expatriates living in Europe who share the same feelings. The Eurobarometer study shows that ‘anti-Americanism,’ the catch-all title that has been used to describe the expression of concerns arising from current U.S. policy, is alive and well and is part of many EU citizens' world view.

There is no doubt that anti-Americanism has become a buzz word in Europe over the last year. The most obvious fuel to this apparently smoldering fire has come from the on-going military operations of the U.S. armed forces and the White House policy makers who have deployed them. Rows erupting over everything from the Israeli-Palestinian situation to global warming have seemingly set the United States against the world.

In Europe, high-level disagreements over policy between the leaders of the European Union and those in the Bush administration have reached grass roots level with public outpourings of opposition to the U.S. approach to global security, human rights, the environment and international relations rife throughout the last 12 months. The new study shows that these feelings continue to run deep and not just among those Europeans who oppose the spread of Pax Americana but also U.S. expatriates living in the EU.

Germans fear new world war

In the European countries that were most vocal in their protests against military action in Iraq - Germany, France and Belgium – criticism of the United States remains high with two-thirds of those surveyed expressing strong negative feelings, believing that the United States poses a threat to world peace. In Germany, many of those polled in the 15-25 age group also fear that U.S. foreign policy could lead to a new world war.

Most Germans, 80 percent of those questioned, also believe that the European Union should work towards a single security and defense strategy, allowing the EU to operate with more cohesion and collective power in the face of what they see to be U.S. domination in conflict management. The same number believes that EU foreign policy should be independent of that of the United States.

U.S. influence in NATO causes concern

The majority of Europeans are critical of U.S. influence in NATO and the consensus is that future military decisions should be made solely through the European Union. Advocates of this EU-centric defense policy are Greece, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Austria and Sweden.

Out of the 15 member states, Greece comes out as the most generally critical country within the EU. A total of 91 percent of Greeks say that the United States has a negative influence on world stability.

Climate policy worries Americans abroad

Americans within the EU are also concerned about their country’s role on the international stage and the negative responses many of its policies are generating around the world. Over 16,000 express worries in the study, specifically on the United States’ attitude and actions in the war on poverty and its global environmental policy.

Many expatriates mention refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming as one of the most damaging events of the Bush administration so far, along with the disregard for international opinion and protest regarding the war in Iraq.

The Eurobarometer study is conducted every six months and serves as the main tool for evaluating public opinion in the 15 member states. Since 1973 the European Commission has relied on the results of the study to help analyze its decision-making and policy issues.

Each survey consists of approximately 1,000 face-to-face interviews per member state and cover topics concerning European citizenship, enlargement, social situation, health, culture, information technology, environment, the euro currency and defense.