Europe's youth take complex view of US
Its 'Iraq generation' moderates harsh views of US policy with admiration of American creativity and 'coolness.'
from the August 13, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
According to a June Pew Global Attitudes poll, favorable views in Britain dropped from 83 to 51 percent between 2000 and 2007. In France, they fell from 62 to 39. Germany fell from 78 to 30 percent.
"We found strong negatives on US foreign policy based on a feeling the US acts unilaterally in the world," says Richard Wike, project director of the Pew Global Attitudes survey in Washington. "But Europeans rate the American people far higher than the country."
There is sheer exhaustion about war news, a certain passion among students not to hold absolute views on anything, and a cynicism about politics in Europe.
"Every day, 48 people die in Baghdad, it seems," says Charlotte Boulanger, who is trying to start an e-newsletter in Paris on human rights. "You get angry, but what can you do? I think everyone is now waiting. It is easy to blame America for everything, and a lot of us do. But sometimes it is a cover for our own failures."
Some of the new story lines from the US are registering. Low approval ratings of Bush and the war are noted, as is the departure of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. There's a sense that US foreign policy is shifting away from a "with us or against us" mentality. Younger Europeans say the US has been humbled, and that a democratic process is under way. New faces are appearing more regularly – Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. They see GOP debates, are aware of moderate Republicans like Richard Lugar, and know that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a popular European, has distanced himself from Bush's policies on the environment.
"There has definitely been an imprint on us by the war," says Barbara Schumacher, a graduate intern at the German Council on Foreign Relations. "We lost the basic trust that our parents had in America. We are critical.... A lot of us want to say we aren't the US; many of us feel proud to be 'old Europe.' But many Germans like American culture. A lot of us bash Bush every day, but watch Hollywood movies every night."
In interviews, America is described not only for its "war on terror," but as the source of much cutting-edge science, literary theory, and arts. It is political Washington as well as New York and San Francisco. While the US gets low marks among under-30s for a perceived arrogance, if not malevolence, it is defining something extremely important to them – what is "cool."
"Really, it is the American style that has influenced us all our lives. We love Bill Murray and Quentin Tarantino," says Mr. Borgers. "Lost Highway, David Lynch. Ghetto is cool, gangsta rap is cool.... I know 50 to 60 people in America enough to tell you quite a bit about them. Not just actors, but skateboard culture. We love scenes in America – the black scene, the biker scene, the rap scene, the jazz and hip-hop scene. Basketball is huge. When we disagree, we feel we disagree partly knowing the US."
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