Will Miller, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science,
Philosophy, and Religion
The Seriousness of it All
• “The Americans started it and retaliation and punishment should
be carried out following the principle of reciprocity, especially when
women and children are involved. Through history, American has
not been known to differentiate between the military and the
civilians or between men and women or adults and children. Those
who threw atomic bombs and used the weapons of mass
destruction against Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the Americans.
Can the bombs differentiate between military and women and
infants and children? America has no religion that can deter her
from exterminating whole peoples. Your position against Muslims
in Palestine is despicable and disgraceful. America has no shame. ...
We believe that the worst thieves in the world today and the worst
terrorists are the Americans. Nothing could stop you except
perhaps retaliation in kind.”
Lay of the Land
• “Shock, rage and grief there has been aplenty.
But any glimmer of recognition of why people
might have been driven to carry out such
atrocities, sacrificing their own lives in the
process - or why the United States is hated with
such bitterness, not only in Arab and Muslim
countries, but across the developing world seems almost entirely absent.”
Do We Deserve to Be Hated?
• Atomic weapons
• Lack of work with international community
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Biological weapons
Land mines
Arms trade
Oil
Kyoto
Violent crime stats
Capital punishment
Foreign aid
Freedom
Capitalism
WikiLeaks
Why Do We Think They Hate Us?
“Our democracy and freedom" (26%)
“Our support for Israel" (22%)
“Our values and way of life" (20%)
“Our influence on the economy and lives of
Middle Eastern countries" (17%)
“Our economic and military power” (11%)
Moving toward Scholarship
• What is “anti-Americanism”?
– A psychological tendency to hold negative views of the United
States (Katzenstein and Keohane)
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Internal v. external (Tai, Peterson, Gurr)
Issue v. ideology (Rubenstein and Smith)
Moderate v. strong v. bias
Barry Rubin:
– Despite what many argue, Arab and Muslim rage at the United
States has had very little to do with actual U.S. policies--policies
that have been remarkably pro-Arab over the past 50 years.
Promoting anti-Americanism is simply the best way Muslim leaders
have found to distract their publics from the real problem: internal
mismanagement. New U.S. policies or a PR campaign will not
change matters.
Four Categories of Anti-Americanism
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Policy
Clash of Civilizations
Ideological
Guilt by association
• I argue for policy but acknowledge others will
appear as well
U.S. Policy
• Support Israel
• Been in conflict with state actors such as
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran as well with violent
Islamic extremist movements such as Al Qaeda
The Clash of Civilizations
• Religious-cultural cleavages
• We argue that it is possible some Muslims may
view the United States as the center of a
Christian war on Islam
Ideology
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Reject the American symbol
Popular culture
Free market
Trade
Post-material values
Guilt by Association
• U.S. has power and impact
• The United States is viewed as being responsible
for propping up the regime in power and
allowing it to stay in power, even if it is deeply
unpopular
Today in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and
Yemen
• Might as well hit on this…
• Anti-Americanism under Obama
• “Even when they embrace secular democracy,
Arabs may be allowed liberation only if it comes
on top of American tanks or when it suits
Israel”
Data
• Pew Global Attitudes Survey 2007 and 2009
– 2009 completed just after Obama’s Cairo speech to the Muslim
world
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Egypt
Indonesia
Jordan
Lebanon
Pakistan
Palestinian Territories
Turkey
Data
• Pew Global Attitudes Survey 2007 and 2009
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Egypt
Indonesia
Jordan
Lebanon
Pakistan
Palestinian Territories
Turkey
Policy: The U.S. Presence in the Muslim
World
• Now I’m going to read a list of political leaders. For each, tell me how much
confidence you have in each leader to do the right thing regarding world
affairs- a lot of confidence, some confidence, not too much confidence, or no
confidence at all.
• And which comes closer to describing your view? I favor the United Statesled efforts to fight terrorism, or I oppose the United States-led efforts to fight
terrorism.
• Do you think the U.S. and NATO should keep military troops in Afghanistan
until the situation has stabilized, or do you think the U.S. and NATO should
remove their troops as soon as possible?
• In making international policy decisions, to what extent do you think the
United States takes into account the interests of countries like (survey
country) – a great deal, a fair amount, not too much, or not at all?
Clash of Civilizations: The Role of
Muslim Identity
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How important is religion in your life-very important, somewhat important, not too important, or
not at all important?
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Do you think there is a struggle in our country between groups who want to modernize the
country and Islamic fundamentalist or don’t you think so?
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Which side do you identify with more in this struggle, the groups who want to modernize the
country or Islamic fundamentalists?
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Some people think that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are
justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies. Other people believe that, no matter what the
reason, this kind of violence is never justified. Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is
often justified to defend Islam, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?
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How often, if at all, do you pray: hardly ever, only during religious holidays, only on Fridays, only
on Fridays and religious holidays, more than once a week, every day at least once, or every day five
times?
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How often, if at all, do you fast-hardly ever, some days during Ramadan, during most or all days
during Ramadan, or during all of Ramadan and other religious holidays?
Ideology: Rejection of the American
Symbol
• Please tell me whether you completely agree, mostly agree,
mostly disagree or completely disagree with the following
statements. Most people are better off in a free market
economy, even though some people are rich and some are
poor.
• What do you think about the growing trade and business ties
between (survey country) and other countries – do you think
it is a very good thing, somewhat good, somewhat bad or a
very bad thing for our country?
• In your view, is global warming a very serious problem,
somewhat serious, not too serious, or not a problem?
Guilt by Association: Perceptions of the
U.S. as Responsible for Domestic
Conditions
• Overall, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the
way things are going in our country today?
• Now thinking about our economic situation,
how would you describe the current economic
situation in (survey country) – is it very good,
somewhat good, somewhat bad or very bad?
Some Interesting Findings
• Suicide bombing support
– 60% say it is never justified; 76% say rarely or never;
only 10% say often justified. When you drop
Palestinian areas (where 37% say it is often justified),
support drops to only 4%.
• The most alarming poll finding, in view of
Pakistan’s nuclear capability, is that more
Pakistanis (in 2009) express positive views of
Osama bin Laden than they do of President
Obama
Results
• Policy
– All four variables, both years
• Clash of Civilizations
– Suicide attacks, both years
• Ideology
– Free market and global warming only in 2007
• Guilt by Association
– Sociotropic in 2009
Substantive Results
• Bush/Obama approval first difference of
.549/.539
• When an individual perceives that their country
doesn't get along with the US, the probability of
anti-American attitudes more than doubles.
• But when relations are good, favorability soars
from only 5% to nearly 60%.
Suicide Bombing
• It looks like all the religion and fundamentalism
and bin Laden stuff we thought would matter
for Anti-Americanism didn't, but it does matter
for suicide terrorism.
• It is a big leap from "We don't like America" to
"We want to kill Americans."
Concerns
• Concerns with survey research
– The trick is to employ polling methods oblivious to the
cultural pathologies raging in Arab and Muslim societies.
What does “public opinion” mean under Islamic regimes that
outlaw political parties, control the media, underwrite hate
speech in sermons and school textbooks, persecute religious
minorities, and torture political dissidents?
– Opinion polls do not mean a hill of beans in cultures
rendered incoherent by despotism, denial, rage, and irrational
religion.
– If the survey results represent attitudes in the Middle East
and beyond, then the most cherished liberal assumptions
about radical Islam and U.S. foreign policy are exposed as
desperate falsehoods.
Let’s Change it Up…
Anti-Muslim Attitudes in America
• Why might we (as Americans) dislike Muslims?
Results
• Obama Good Job (factor)
– First difference of .243
– I think we really are getting at something about Obama
(and the policies associated with him and that he is
responsible for--like the direction of the country) that is
not explicitly about party or ideology. It is NOT just
that liberals support Obama and like Muslims.
• Born Again Christians
• Males
• Elderly
So What Does it All Mean??
• Findings indicate that improved relations
between the Western and Islamic Civilizations is
possible—the animosity is not a result of
unchangeable cultural or religious views, but is
due to the political relationship.
• The real difference between those who condone
terrorist acts and all others is politics, not piety
• It’s a two-way street though!!
Conclusion
• It offers some room for hope. Perhaps with changes in
United States policy and renewed, serious efforts to
create a lasting and equitable peace deal between
Palestinians and Israelis, a good deal of goodwill could be
created for the United States. While there are clearly
myriad political factors that make such policy changes
difficult to achieve, it is imperative that efforts are made
to improve the image of the United States in the Muslim
world if it hopes to have a chance of reducing the
amount of antipathy toward the United States.
• But our behavior towards Egypt…doesn’t suggest this
will be happening.