America Against the World

America’s image has been steadily deteriorating over the past five years, with a slight recovery in some countries in 2005. Yet overwhelmingly, anti-Americanism is on the rise. Why is this so? Pew pollster Andrew Kohut and journalist Bruce Stokes use surveys from more than 91,000 people in 50 countries to explore this deeply unsettling finding in their recently released book, America Against the World: How We Are Different and Why We Are Disliked.

Kohut and Stokes argue that some of our defining values, such as strong individualism and optimism, have actually set us apart from the rest of the world.

-- Most people around the world believe that America ignores their interests in making foreign policy, yet 67 percent of Americans believe that the United States pays attention to the interests of other countries—a disconnect of a major order.

-- Americans take enormous pride in their way of doing business and practicing democracy, but citizens of other nations rank Australia, Britain, and Canada higher than the United States as places to go for economic opportunity and freedom.

But the world's perception of America is not inflexible, and their research also suggests how we can positively influence that perception. In Indonesia, the recent rise in favorability seems to be a product of America’s tsunami relief effort, demonstrating how American generosity and cooperation can have an enormous positive impact. Join us as Kohut and Stokes explore their findings to explain the roots of this global discontent and reveal how America’s core values shape its image around the globe.

An audio recording of this event (in MP3 format) can be downloaded here.

Participants

• Andrew Kohut
  President, Pew Research Center
• Bruce Stokes
  Economics Columnist, The National Journal
• Mark Schmitt
  Senior Fellow, New America Foundation