anti-Americanism

Anti-Americanism (also known as anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and positions, including opposition to, fear of, distrust of, prejudice against, or hatred toward the United States, its federal government, foreign policy, or culture, or toward Americans in general. Anti-Americanism can be contrasted with American nationalism or pro-Americanism, which refers to support, love, or admiration for the United States.

The political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centre in Australia suggests that "anti-Americanism" cannot be isolated as a consistent phenomenon, since the term originated as a rough composite of stereotypes, prejudices, and criticisms that evolved into more politically-based criticisms. The French scholar Marie-France Toinet says that use of the term "anti-Americanism" is "only fully justified if it implies systematic opposition – a sort of allergic reaction – to America as a whole." Some scholars frequently accused of anti-American biases, such as Noam Chomsky and Nancy Snow, have argued that the application of the term "anti-American" to other countries or their populations is 'nonsensical' as it implies that disliking the American government or its policies is socially undesirable or even comparable to a crime. In this regard, the term has been likened to the propagandistic usage of the term "anti-Sovietism" in the Soviet Union.