The U.S. Misreads the Causes of Anti-Americanism
William Pfaff International Herald Tribune
Saturday, March 31, 2001 BOSTON
Anti-Americanism abroad preoccupies many Americans concerned with their country's place in the world, but the phenomenon is often misread in political circles.
This leads to misunderstanding of the nature and cause of anti-Americanism. Journalism is partly responsible, since coverage of international affairs in the U.S. press and television now is almost entirely Washington-driven.
That is, the questions asked about foreign affairs are Washington's questions, framed in terms of domestic politics and established Washington policy positions. This invites uninformative answers and discourages unwanted or unpleasant news.
Matters that do not directly address Washington concerns tend to be ignored, since it is generally assumed that anything Washington is not paying attention to can't be very important. Thus, the reality rating of much debate in the capital is not very high.
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