Rethinking Anti-Americanism: The History of an Exceptional Concept in American Foreign Relations (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780521683425)

"Anti-Americanism" is an unusual expression; although stereotypes and hostility exist toward every nation, we do not hear of "anti-Italianism" or "anti-Brazilianism." Only Americans have elevated such sentiment to the level of a worldview, an explanatory factor so significant as to merit a name - an "ism" - usually reserved for comprehensive ideological systems or ingrained prejudice. This book challenges the scholarly consensus that blames criticism of the United States on foreigners' irrational resistance to democracy and modernity. Tracing 200 years of the concept of anti-Americanism, this book argues that it has constricted political discourse about social reform and U.S. foreign policy, from the War of 1812 and the Mexican War to the Cold War, from Guatemala and Vietnam to Iraq. Research in nine countries in five languages, with attention to diplomacy, culture, migration, and the circulation of ideas, shows that the myth of anti-Americanism has often damaged the national interest.

Author: Max Paul Friedman
ISBN-10: 0521683424
ISBN-13: 9780521683425
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/27/2012
Pages: 374
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2013