European anti-Americanism has very little to do with America or politics, and even less with transatlantic relations. In many ways, it is not even a useful term, because unlike other "isms" it is not supported by a movement, it lacks the vision of a future, and it defines itself by opposition rather than through a proper point of view. In a sense, there is no one European anti-Americanism, but rather a variety of heterogeneous expressions of this phenomenon, conditioned by geographical concerns and historical cycles. The shape and content of the phenomenon differ in accordance not only with dimensions of space, but also with dimensions of time: each epoch has its own forms of anti-Americanism, and it is misleading to assume, as Dan Diner does for Germany, that one and the same anti-Americanism has simply assumed different forms at different times.
Anti-Americanism in Europe is a habitus, a syndrome, an ideological Versatzstück the profile of which is dependent on the local political and cultural context as well as regional economic interests. There is, of course, a cultural, a political, and an economic anti-Americanism, but these accentuations typically merge within the same reference group or even one and the same person. In other words, there is no "European" anti-Americanism proper, but only many different varieties of the phenomenon.
Tá vendo? Não sou apenas eu (excelente dica do Selva Brasilis) que acho que o termo antiamericanismo, apesar de ser um rótulo que serve para transmitir uma idéia de antagonismo, pouco útil para definir certas manifestações em relação aos ianques.
É interessante entender o antiamericanismo europeu porque boa parte da nossa classe - aham - pensante bebe nas fontes européias. O povão - classe média incluída - sofre uma influência residual desse pensamento, se tornando antiamericano - pero no mucho - por inércia. Por isso, assim que a situação financeira permite, muitos "antiamericanos" disparam para Flórida, Califórina, Nova Iorque, etc. Chega a ser engraçado ouvir os comentários jocosos dos "antiamericanos" nos saguões dos aeroportos. Mas todos felizes da vida, claro!
É o famoso "te odeio mas te amo"!
No mesmo texto uma irônica definição de antiamericanismo feita pelo analista político David Kaspar poderia ser adaptada para muitos países da América Latina:
It's a German schoolteacher who vacations in America, who watches American movies, who was defended from the Soviets by America and then later met an Eastern German cousin she never knew because Reagan won the Cold War, who sneers at America in front of the kids she teaches every day.
