"Ami Go Home"-Anti Americanism at is high in Germany&Austria

[Melech 9,900]

 

 

THEIR name sounds like a parody, but it is not meant to be. On January 24th about 1,000 Pegada, or “patriotic Europeans against the Americanisation of the Occident,†took to the streets of Erfurt. In chants and on banners, they warned against a break with Russia and of a third world war, blaming the “terror power†of America. The spread of anti-Americanism in Germany worries John Emerson, America’s ambassador. He is soon to attend an “anti-Americanism conference†in Munich. Joachim Gauck, Germany’s president, frets that “Germans and Americans appear to live on different planets.â€

This new mood may even cloud Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Washington next week (see article). It affects everything from the West’s response to terrorism and Russian bullying to free-trade talks between America and the European Union, now in their eighth round.

Anti-Americanism has long been endemic in Germany. In West Germany in the cold war, it was found mainly on the left. The right saw America as a protector against communism and a post-war mentor in democracy. Yet even conservative West Germans combined love for things cowboy with disdain for an American way of life they saw as uncultured. East Germans were anti-American and pro-Russian as a matter of policy. Even today, with that ideological kinship gone, “a crude mixture of anti-Americanism and a bizarre romanticisation of Russo-German affinities†persists, says Heinrich August Winkler, a historian with an interest in Germany’s ambivalent integration into the West.

In theory reunification in 1990 anchored all of Germany firmly in the West, as defined by NATO, the European Union and shared values. And yet some old leftist anti-Americanism survived. Its political home became Die Linke (The Left), a party that descends from the communists of East Germany and has picked up a few western radicals. In a softer form, it persists among Social Democrats and Greens.

The newer element is anti-Americanism on the right. Once confined to the loony fringes of, say, Bavaria’s CSU, the conservative sister party to Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats, it has leapt beyond the CSU’s beer tents to a young ultraconservative party, Alternative for Germany (AfD). AfD started life as an anti-euro party but it has now become anti-immigrant and anti-American as well.

Mrs Merkel, like Mr Gauck, is a former East German who is pro-American by inclination. But America’s spy agencies have not helped relations by tapping her phone, as well as countless other electronic communications of ordinary Germans, as Edward Snowden revealed. Germans see this as a violation of sovereignty and feel betrayed by their ally. They also object to other American extraterritorial forays, such as checking airline passengers on German soil. All this has “created a toxic mistrust and fuelled anti-Americanism in Germany,†says Norbert Röttgen, chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign-affairs committee.

Such mistrust now threatens the transatlantic free-trade deal. Most EU citizens back it. But support is lowest (at only 39%) in Germany and Austria, says one recent poll. In Germany the controversy has become both hysterical and illogical. Thus Germans worry about planned tribunals to arbitrate between companies and governments, even though these have been part of most other EU trade deals. “If this were an agreement with any other country, it would not have such a big place in the public debate,†argues Mr Röttgen. Increasingly, that is true of anything Germany and America try to do together.

http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21642211-anti-americanism-always-strong-german-left-growing-right-ami-go-home

 

What do you think? 

Tbh imo it's okay to be against the American govnerment but you shouldn't be against an individual.

Hating is unneccassary 

[Mr Josh 3]

Horrible

[ByeBye49 161]

 

[RAMROD 117,545]

Modern form of discrimination tbh.

[Stigma 205]

Well, USA has no interest in united and strong Europe...After all we know the saying - divide and conquer! But still, the real threat for Europe are the islamization and Russia. So EU and USA better work together!

[boobtank 9,090]

Well, USA has no interest in united and strong Europe...After all we know the saying - divide and conquer! But still, the real threat for Europe are the islamization and Russia. So EU and USA better work together!

'Islamization' is not a threat. Such ignorance.

[Luiz 4,253]

i expect everywhere hates us so.....

[Stigma 205]

'Islamization' is not a threat. Such ignorance.

Is not a threat???? Why don't you....yourself. I live in Paris, in an Arabic neighborhood and I know better than you. Islam is an extremely aggressive religion with values  that have nothing in common with the european values. So yes, the islamization of Europe is the real problem of the continent!

[DIVA 666]

"The bigger the star, the bigger the target". 

 

The United States isn't perfect, but it's done more for progress in this world than any other nation on the planet. It still has its flaws, but the same can be said for every nation.

 

People can be anti-american if they wish. Germany is a beautiful country that I had the privilege of visiting this past summer, and the people are even more beautiful. I wish tensions between all nations could be eradicated, but with so many diverse cultures and beliefs, it's just not possible at this time. 

 

Plus, feelings left over from the world wars can still be felt all around the world, as they were times that shaped and re-shaped the world, and certainly Germany and the U.S. were on opposing sides of those conflicts. 

 

As far as the surveillance goes, it's disappointing to know that any nation is essentially spying on any other nations, but the truth of the matter is that all nations spy on all other nations. The United States has assets in Germany in the same way that Germany has assets in the U.S., and I'm sure Germany has always spied on the U.S. as well. It's simply the nature of a more globalized age. 

 

p.s. I love Germany. Such a uniquely interesting country, with such a rich culture and history. 

[craig 680]

Right wingers who look to Russia as the model? Sounds like Putinism is very attractive to European far right nationalists  

[SleepingSun 1,480]

Oh my

[Evan Peters 10,795]

Pretty sure literally nobody in america gives a **** what people in germany think of them

[Morphine Prince 109,769]

Pretty sure literally nobody in america gives a **** what people in germany think of them

I've noticed the world is obsessed with the US and people here don't give a **** about other countries  

 

It just doesn't make the news and it's not relevant. Only big things like that North Korea movie incident made the news. Most people here just don't care. You have to make an effort to keep up with world news like I do. And this site also helps me see worldwide perspectives since we have members from all over the world.

[Didymus 34,380]

I'm not displeased by this tbh :lollipop:

[TiphEret 1,320]

I've noticed the world is obsessed with the US and people here don't give a **** about other countries

 

It just doesn't make the news and it's not relevant. Only big things like that North Korea movie incident made the news. Most people here just don't care. You have to make an effort to keep up with world news like I do. And this site also helps me see worldwide perspectives since we have members from all over the world.

 

And that's why people are hating on the US. Americans not caring and demonstrating often too much ignorance about what's going in other part of the world make it hard to swallow all the decisions they take that have an impact on other countries.