A Sampling: From Beijing to Buenos Aires, Lost Faith in an Uglier America /
“America always has excuses for its crimes,” a 19-year-old student in Beijing said when asked why he ranked the United States fifth in the likely lineup of world powers a decade from now – behind China, the European Union, Russia, and India.
Another Chinese student, age 20, put America at the top of the list, but not happily. He attributed U.S. dominance to an imperial reach backed by nukes. “The American government can’t live without war,” he said.
A dispatches sampling found young people all over the map when imagining the world in 2018. In Buenos Aires, 15 of 30 Argentine respondents said China would dominate, and nine said the European Union. The United States tallied six. But in Beijing, 14 of 21 chose America, and two named Europe. Only five said China would be the leading power.
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Egypt
In Cairo, where anti-American views were most virulent, the United States and China tied at seven each, with one vote for Russia. Yet in Moscow, 17 of 25 young people questioned believed – or wanted to believe – that Mother Russia would lead the world within the decade. Only one thought America would remain at the top.
When it came to 2008, however, they were nearly unanimous. U.S. policy since 2001 disappointed some, enraged many, and confirmed suspicions of those who had held America in low esteem. Washington might still rule the world, many said, but only by nuclear-tipped bullying.Feelings ran high in Egypt, a cornerstone of the Middle East, which receives nearly $3 billion a year in U.S. aid.
Yasmeen, a 27-year-old news agency editor,expects Europe, China, and Russia to surpass the United States. The war, she said, “made me realize that Americans have separate values. On one side they present themselves as the most civilized nation and the god of democracy in the world but on the other they don’t mind killing innocent people, even American soldiers, only for oil.”
A 25-year-old hotel clerk, Ahmed, bucked the trend in Cairo. “My opinion didn’t change at all,” he said. “As for me, I like the U.S.A. so much that I’m doing my best to travel to work there and hold U.S. nationality.”
But another 25-year-old, an English translator named Fatma, was among those who listed America last. Her bitter response, justified or not, suggests what a new U.S. president faces beyond Iraq: “Killing innocent people with no proof and occupying another land for its petrol will alter anyone’s opinion. This question really doesn’t need to be asked. Just watch TV, and I mean the real TV not the American one. See the killing, raping, and devastation scenes, and you will see the answer so clearly.”
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In Moscow, it is a separate story.
When asked to rank the five, Nikita, 17, replied: “Russia! Russia! Russia! Put Russia for all of them and stop there.” Asked if Iraq changed his view of America, he said: “Yes, for the better. I don’t like non-Russians. And Iraqis, just like the Caucasians, are non-Russians. They’re all the same, and I am tired of them all.”
Leonid, 22, a journalist for the daily Nazavisimaya Gazeta (Independent Newspaper), was little more nuanced. “In 10 years, there will no longer be just one superpower, there will be two: Russia and the U.S. Two on top, and two on the bottom: China and India. Europe will be somewhere in the middle.”
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Argentina
Perhaps the most revealing data came from Argentina, prosperous again and closer to the United States than Iraq in spirit – and on the map. Thirty people in their 20s were questioned and, not identified, were asked for blunt assessments.
One person who chose China over America explained: “Before the war, I thought the United States would keep a low profile to maintain control. But now I see its strategy is to show the world in the most obvious way its nuclear and economic weight. By being fearful, it has ceased to be a great power. It has made many enemies and lost the
global respect it hoped for.”
Another put the United States fourth after China, the EU, and India because of the Americans’ “ignorance and nationalistic conquistador spirit.” Several Argentines mentioned the heavy cost Latin America faces because Washington let the dollar slide and torpedoed an economy others depend on.
One commentary was calm but blunt: “I think the rest of the world, and even a large part of the United States, sees this war as an act of cruelty, of invasion, and a lack of any respect for another culture or religion.”
That was another vote for China.
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