US Sutra | Dominance breeds resentment: Why the US is so unpopular

Why do people around the world, even in partner-democracies like India, harbour enduring antipathy towards the United States? After pondering this question for years, I think I have an answer. No, I am not referring to President Donald J. Trump, now in his second term. He may well be the trigger or tipping point, but the real cause lies elsewhere and goes much deeper.

Speaking of Trump, yes, he is unpredictable, brash, and often insulting in his rhetoric. His style elicits outrage. But that is merely the spark igniting a far deeper dislike. Anti-Americanism has two primary drivers. The first is the old Communist and somewhat newer Islamist hatred. These, it would seem, are not only implacable, but unfalsifiable. Why? Because, in essence, they are theological rather than rational.

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The idea that America is the “great Satan” is so deeply ingrained in both these ideologies, for totally opposite reasons, that it is practically impossible to uproot. To the Communists, capitalism is the root of all evil and the US its epicenter and epitome. When they failed in Cold War 1.0 to destroy American power, they tried to hollow it from inside by placing their fellow-travellers inside the US establishment. Now, with a second anti-US Axis forming with China as its pivot, we are squarely in Cold War 2.0.

Yet, the US-China relationship is not that of mere or sheer adversaries. It is, rather, that of frenemies. In one sense, they constitute a duopoly. One dominates in technology the other in manufacturing. It is only when China tries to dislodge the US from its numero uno position that the fierce competition between them turns dangerous to the rest of the world.

The fact is that China is as capitalist as the US, although it is a peculiar kind of state-run capitalism, quite unknown to Marx or Lenin. One might say that it is a pure Chinese invention which is now being replicated in Vietnam. But China has tried to project itself and its stable authoritarianism as an alternative to the US model of democracy, free speech, and individual liberty.

Radical Islam, both the Arabian, Sunni variety and now, the Iranian Shia version, seems to be on the backfoot. Even Saudi Arabia, not to mention the UAE which never really adopted it Wahabism, is turning away from fanaticism and intolerance. The Left-Liberals within American power centres, whether in media, academia, or politics, are facing their severest backlash and pushback in decades. Of course, there are exceptions, like New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani. But the flight of capital within the US, whether from New York, Seattle, or San Francisco, is all too real and too true to deny.

Europe, among democratic societies, offers the starkest contrast to Trump’s America.

After centuries of conquering, subjugating, and carving up the world, followed by two catastrophic wars that killed tens of millions, Europeans have grown bashful of their rapacious past.

Post-colonial guilt, amplified by endless reckonings over empire, slavery, and world wars, has made them reluctant to project hard power. Politeness has trumped power, diplomacy playing second fiddle to defence. The European Union fashions itself a civilian or normative power, preferring legislation, regulations, and moral lectures over military muscle or unvarnished regional interest.

The result? The Russian invasion and partial occupation of Ukraine. Close to 20% of Ukraine’s territory (roughly 120,000 sq km out of 603,548 sq km) is still under Russian control. All the way from Luhansk Oblast in the east to Cape Sarych all the way down to Crimea’s southern tip on the Black Sea, over 800 km away. European diplomacy, which turned Russia into a pariah nation, hasn’t worked. Without US support, Ukraine would have fallen long ago.

NATO’s burdens fall disproportionately on America, while many European nations under-spend on defence and hedge against real threats like a revanchist Russia or an expansionist China. The figures speak for themselves. The US still accounts for some 60 per cent of total NATO spending, over $900 billion. European allies, plus Canada, spend over $550 billion. Non-US members complain that they’ve upped their spending hugely, up as much as 20 per cent year on year, but who can deny that the US alone spends much more than all the rest combined.

Let’s face it: civilian power and diplomacy simply do not cut it when it comes to punishing or checking rogue states or disrupters.

Putting these factors and forces together, let’s return to our original question. Why does the world dislike the US? The answer might startle even to those of us who think we are in the know. What the world truly dislikes is not American power itself, but its unembarrassed, unapologetic projection. Especially under POTUS 47 Trump.

What the world would like very much is a more low-key US, keeping the global order, but doing so with a show of humility, even guilt for past sins, real or imagined. But under Trump and his neo-triumphalism, this ain’t happening.

Trump refuses to play the game of performative humility.

He stands up and roars, “Fight, fight, fight.” And suddenly, everyone, from European capitals to Indian drawing rooms, is crying foul.

Where does India fit in in this rapidly evolving global scenario? We will try to answer this question in the next installment of this column.

[To be concluded]

(Makarand R. Paranjape, author and public intellectual, is currently Sri Aurobindo Chair, Vedere University & Director of Education, AHCP LLC. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)