Anti-Western sentiment, also known as anti-Atlanticism or Westernophobia, refers to broad opposition, bias, or hostility towards the people, culture, or policies of the Western world. [2] [3]
This sentiment is found worldwide. It often stems from anti-imperialism and criticism of past colonial actions by Western powers. For example, in Africa, figures like Patrice Lumumba and Mobutu Sese Seko blamed the West for imperialism in the Congo region. In Ethiopia, resentment over internal politics and conflict resolution during the Tigray War led to anti-Western sentiment. In the Middle East, Pan-Arabism and Islamism contribute to anti-Western attitudes. Jihadist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS view Western countries as targets for terrorism due to perceived insults against Islam and military interventions in Muslim countries. Many Latin American countries harbor criticism due to historical American and European interventions. In Russia, anti-Western sentiment has been endorsed by many. Russian leaders have traditionally rejected Western liberalism which they see as a threat to Russian hegemony in the region.
The phenomenon is often exacerbated by contemporary events. In recent decades, anti-Western feelings have been fueled by factors such as the Iraq War, support for Israel, and sanctions against countries like Iran.
In many modern cases, anti-Western sentiment is fueled by anti-imperialism, particularly against countries that are "deemed guilty for colonial crimes of the past and present," such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal. Anti-Western sentiment occurs in many countries, including the West– especially European countries. Broad anti-Western sentiment also exists in the Muslim world against Europeans and Americans. Anti-American sentiment stems from US support for Israel, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and numerous sanctions against Iran. [4]
Samuel P. Huntington argues that after the Cold War, international conflict over economic ideology would be replaced with conflict over cultural differences. [1] His "Clash of Civilizations" argues that economic and political regionalism will increasingly shift non-Western countries towards geopolitical engagement with countries that share their values. He argues that Muslim population growth simultaneous to a growth in Islamic fanaticism is leading to a rejection of Westernization.
Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba blamed the Western world for imperialism. On 1 August 1960, he "gave a speech that indicated in no ambiguous terms that the United Nations, its Secretary-General, the United States, and the Western powers were all corrupt entities." [5] During the Congo Crisis, Lumumba received support from the Soviet Union, which contributed to his overthrow and execution by the Western-backed Mobutu Sese Seko.
When Mobutu became leader of the Congo, he renamed the country Zaire and created the national policy of Authenticité or Zaireanization, which aimed to remove all Western cultural influence from the country.
In 2001, anti-Western sentiment skyrocketed in the Congo following the assassination of the Congolese president Laurent Kabila, with many Congolese citizens blaming the Western world for his death. [6]
Anti-Western sentiment was broadly expressed in Ethiopia during the Tigray War as a result of resentment over pressure in internal politics and request over resolution of the conflict. [7] On 30 May 2021, a pro-government rally took place in Addis Ababa to protest an international pressure denouncing "Western intervention" and US economic and security assistance sanctions. Protestors also waved banners supporting the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project. [8] On 22 October 2022, tens of thousands protestors took a demonstration in Addis Ababa's Meskel Square, whereas the other cities in Ethiopia, including Bahir Dar, Gondar, Adama, Dire Dawa and Hawassa also hosted a similar demonstration to denounce the intervention. [9]
Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, had a staunch anti-Western stance and blamed the United States for many of Africa's difficulties. [10]
Located in northeastern Nigeria, the name of the extremist Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram translates to "Western education is forbidden" or "Western civilization is forbidden."
Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe used anti-Western rhetoric in his speeches, and he implemented policies that seized farmland from white European farmers. [11]
Anti-Western sentiment in China has been increasing since the early 1990s, particularly among Chinese young adults. [12] Notable incidents which have resulted in a significant anti-Western backlash have included the 1999 NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, [13] the 2008 demonstrations during the Olympic torch relay, [14] and alleged Western media bias, [15] especially in relation to the 2008 Tibetan unrest. [16] While available public opinion polls show that the Chinese people view the United States in a positive light, there remains suspicion over the West's motives toward China stemming largely from historical experiences, specifically the "century of humiliation." [17] [18]
These suspicions have been increased by the Chinese Communist Party's "Patriotic Education Campaign". [19] Although Chinese millennials are largely apathetic to politics, China's Gen Z now has an unprecedentedly low opinion of the West and "Western values" since the Chinese economic reforms of the 70s. [ citation needed ] Young Chinese have grievances such as the Western alienation of Chinese tech companies, anti-East Asian racism, anti-Chinese propaganda, and pressure on China's internal affairs, among other issues. In a study conducted by Toronto University in April 2020, 4 out of every 5 Chinese under 30 years old said they do not trust Americans. [20] [21]
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Although opinion polls suggest positive views towards Western countries today, anti-Western sentiments were common in early 20th century India due to the Indian independence movement. [22]
There is a history of criticism of the so-called West within the intellectual history of Japan. [23]
Historically, anti-Western sentiment in Korea has been linked to the opposition to the Christian missionary activities in the region, most notably by the Donghak Movement. [24] [25] [26] More recently, it has been related to the occasional difficulties in the American-Korean relationship in South Korea and, to a more pronounced extent, North Korea. [27]
Anti-western sentiments was just that extreme in the early phases of the Republic of Korea. [28] It was confined to a very small number of people who faced arrest and jail under the National Security Law (1948). [29] The Rhee administration largely exploited the National Security Act to garner support for his extreme right-wing power base. Its use also ensured that anti-Americanism remained the preserve of extremists ready to risk arrest. In practice, this meant that anti-Americanism remained intimately intertwined. It was associated with Marxism-Leninism until the onset of the democratisation movement. [30]
Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, argued that East Asian or Confucian countries such as China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam should develop based on "Asian values" or what is generally referred to as "Confucian" or "Sinitic" values. [31] In other words, countries such as the Four Asian Tigers should aspire to have Western-style standards of living without accepting liberal democratic social institutions and principles. The Asian values are primarily influenced by the ideals of Confucianism, notably filial piety, and social cohesion. [32] The concept of Asian values is widely criticized as a means for instituting authoritarianism, notably by Amartya Sen. [33]
Together with political Salafis, jihadists (also called Salafist jihadists) view Christian Europe as a land inhabited by infidels ( Dar al-Kufr ). For jihadists, this makes Christian Europe a just target for armed jihad, e.g., acts of war or terrorist attacks. Jihadists refer to such lands as Dar al-Harb (lands of war). [34] Jihadists themselves motivate their attacks in two prominent ways: to resist Western/Christian military intervention in Muslim countries and to discourage perceived insults against Islam such as the Muhammad Cartoons. [35]
John Calvert writes that in their critique of the West, Islamists quote Western thinkers like Alexis Carrel, Oswald Spengler, Arnold J. Toynbee, and Arthur Koestler. [36]
Extremists terrorist groups al-Qaeda and ISIL/ISIS are said to be both anti-Western. They have been known to promote terrorism in Western countries, including Russia. [37]
During the Ottoman period of Turkish history, a tradition of anti-Westernism developed. [38] [39]
Samuel P. Huntington in Clash of Civilizations classifies Russia and the rest of Orthodox Europe as a different civilization from Western civilization. [40]
Anti-Western sentiment in Russia dates back to the 19th-century intellectual debate between Westernizers and Slavophiles. While the former deemed Russia to be a lagging Western country, the latter rejected these claims outright and considered Western Europe to be 'rotten' (whence the Russian-language cliche phrase 'rotten West'). An important anti-Western figure during the reign of Alexander III of Russia was Konstantin Pobedonostsev, a former liberal who eventually renounced and thoroughly criticized his former views.
Under the Soviet Union, 'the West' eventually became synonymous with 'the capitalist world', resulting in the appearance of the famous propagandist cliché 'corrupting influence of the West'.
After the Cold War, a number of politicians in the Russian Federation have supported an explicit promotion of Russian Orthodox traditionalism and a rejection of Western liberalism. Some ultra-nationalist politicians, such as the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky, express the most anti-Western sentiment.
Vladimir Putin has promoted explicitly conservative policies in social, cultural and political matters, both at home and abroad. Putin has attacked globalism and neoliberalism [41] and promoted new think tanks that stress Russian nationalism, the restoration of Russia's historical greatness, and systematic opposition to liberal ideas and policies. [42] Putin has collaborated closely with the Russian Orthodox Church in this cultural campaign. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Church, endorsed his election in 2012, stating Putin's terms were like "a miracle of God." [43] [44] The Russian Orthodox Church is known to host groups that promote nationalist and anti-Western tendencies. [45] [46]
The Russian government has restricted foreign funding of some liberal NGOs. Pro-Russian activists in the former Soviet Union frequently equate the West with homosexuality and the gay agenda. [47] The 2013 Russian gay propaganda law was welcomed by nationalist and religious political figures in Russia as a bulwark against Western influence.[ citation needed ]
The Yarovaya Law prohibits evangelism by religious minorities. It was used to ban the United States-based Jehovah's Witnesses. [48]
Anti-Western sentiment exists in Latin America, especially in countries where the population consists mostly of Native Americans, such as Bolivia, Guatemala, or Peru.[ citation needed ] On the other hand, in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, Europeans are more represented in the population. Consequently, there are many Latin Americans who identify as Westerners, so the anti-Western discourse is therefore not as prominent as in other regions. That is not to say, however, that there is no anti-Western discourse. Indeed, it can be found in countries with nationalist and populist leaders or movements, including left-wing political parties in Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, or Venezuela.[ citation needed ] In recent years, Latin American nations have increasingly turned away from the United States.[ citation needed ]
Anti-Western sentiments are related to the history of American and European political interventions in Latin America. Many people in the region lay sharp criticism on the United States for supporting Cold War era coups and CIA-backed military dictatorships. Most Latin American countries tend to be more regional, focusing on internal cooperation. Accompanying this is a notable distrust of globalization.[ citation needed ] Latin American organizations like Mercosur, Prosur and Unasur are strong groups that represent this aspect of Latin American foreign policy.[ citation needed ]
Samuel P. Huntington in Clash of Civilizations controversially[ citation needed ] classifies Latin America as a different civilization from Western civilization.
Imperialism is the practice, theory or attitude of maintaining or extending power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power and soft power. Imperialism focuses on establishing or maintaining hegemony and a more or less formal empire. While related to the concepts of colonialism, imperialism is a distinct concept that can apply to other forms of expansion and many forms of government.
The "Clash of Civilizations" is a thesis that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post–Cold War world. The American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington argued that future wars would be fought not between countries, but between cultures. It was proposed in a 1992 lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, which was then developed in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article titled "The Clash of Civilizations?", in response to his former student Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book The End of History and the Last Man. Huntington later expanded his thesis in a 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.
Anti-Americanism 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 government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Anti-Americanism can be contrasted with pro-Americanism, which refers to support, love, or admiration for the United States.
The Eurasia Party is a National Bolshevik Russian political party. It was registered by the Ministry of Justice on 21 June 2002, approximately one year after the pan-Russian Eurasia Movement was established by Aleksandr Dugin.
Westernization, also Europeanisation or occidentalization, is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economics, lifestyle, law, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, diet, clothing, language, writing system, religion, and philosophy. During colonialism it often involved the spread of Christianity.
Anti-Russian sentiment or Russophobia is dislike or fear or hatred of Russia, Russian people, Russian culture, or Russian policy. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as intense and often irrational hatred of Russia. The opposite of Russophobia is Russophilia.
Pan-nationalism is a specific term, used mainly in social sciences as a designation for those forms of nationalism that aim to transcend traditional boundaries of basic or historical national identities in order to create a "higher" pan-national (all-inclusive) identity, based on various common denominators. Pan-nationalism can occur as a specific variant of all common forms of nationalism. In relation to classical state nationalism, pan-nationalism manifests itself through various political movements that advocate the formation of "higher" (pan-national) forms of political identity, based on a regional or continental grouping of national states. In terms of ethnic nationalism, pan-nationalism can also manifest itself through specific ethnic movements that advocate setting up "higher" (pan-national) forms of common identity that are based on ethnic grouping. Other forms of nationalism also have their pan-national variants.
Pan-Asianism is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian peoples. Various theories and movements of Pan-Asianism have been proposed, particularly from East, South and Southeast Asia. The motive for the movement was in opposition to the values of Western imperialism and colonialism, and that Asian values were superior to European values.
Anti-Europeanism, Anti-European sentiment, Anti-European racism, racism against Europeans and Europhobia are political terms used in a variety of contexts, implying sentiment or policies in opposition to Europe.
Eurasianism is a socio-political movement in Russia that emerged in the early 20th century under the Russian Empire, which states that Russia does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia governed by the "Russian world", forming an ostensibly standalone Russian civilization.
Russian nationalism is a form of nationalism that promotes Russian cultural identity and unity. Russian nationalism first rose to prominence as a Pan-Slavic enterprise during the 19th century Russian Empire, and was repressed during the early Bolshevik rule. Russian nationalism was briefly revived through the policies of Joseph Stalin during and after the Second World War, which shared many resemblances with the worldview of early Eurasianist ideologues.
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in the regions of Australasia, Western Europe, and Northern America; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. The Western world likewise is called the Occident in contrast to the Eastern world known as the Orient. The West is considered an evolving concept; made up of cultural, political, and economic synergy among diverse groups of people, and not a rigid region with fixed borders and members. Definitions of "Western world" vary according to context and perspectives.
The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia is a geopolitical book by Aleksandr Dugin. Its publication in 1997 was well received in Russia; it has had significant influence within the Russian military, police forces, and foreign policy elites, and has been used as a textbook in the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian military. Powerful Russian political figures subsequently took an interest in Dugin, a Russian political analyst who espouses an ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist ideology based on his idea of neo-Eurasianism, who has developed a close relationship with Russia's Academy of the General Staff.
Anti-American sentiment has been present in Russia for a long time, dating back to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Relations were frozen until 1933, when the US President Franklin Roosevelt decided to establish diplomatic relations with the USSR. The US and the USSR fought alongside each other in World War II, but following the end of the war, the United States was opposed to the Soviet Union's military occupation and domination of Eastern Europe. As tensions grew into the Cold War, relations became hostile with large-scale war plans, but no direct war took place.
A revolutionary wave is a series of revolutions occurring in various locations within a particular timespan. In many cases, past revolutions and revolutionary waves have inspired current ones, or an initial revolution has inspired other concurrent "affiliate revolutions" with similar aims. The causes of revolutionary waves have become the subjects of study by historians and political philosophers, including Robert Roswell Palmer, Crane Brinton, Hannah Arendt, Eric Hoffer, and Jacques Godechot.
Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influence from a global superpower, as well as in opposition to colonial rule. Anti-imperialism can also arise from a specific economic theory, such as in the Leninist interpretation of imperialism, which is derived from Lenin's 1917 work Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. People who categorize themselves as anti-imperialists often state that they are opposed to colonialism, colonial empires, hegemony, imperialism and the territorial expansion of a country beyond its established borders.
Putinism is the social, political, and economic system of Russia formed during the political leadership of Vladimir Putin. It is characterized by the concentration of political and financial powers in the hands of "siloviks", current and former "people with shoulder marks", coming from a total of 22 governmental enforcement agencies, the majority of them being the Federal Security Service (FSB), Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Armed Forces of Russia, and National Guard of Russia. According to Arnold Beichman, "Putinism in the 21st century has become as significant a watchword as Stalinism was in the 20th."
Africa–Soviet Union relations are the diplomatic, political, military, and cultural relationships between the Soviet Union and Africa from the 1945 to 1991. The Soviets took little interest until the decolonisation of Africa of the 1950s and early 1960s which created opportunities to expand their influence. Africans were not receptive to the Soviet model of socio-economic development. Instead, the Soviets offered financial aid, munitions, and credits for purchases from the Soviet bloc, while avoiding direct involvement in armed conflicts. Temporary alliances were secured with Angola and Ethiopia. The 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union left its successor state, Russia, with greatly diminished influence.
Pro-Americanism describes support, love, or admiration for the United States, its government and economic system, its foreign policy, the American people, and/or American culture, typically on the part of people who are not American citizens or otherwise living outside of the United States. In this sense, it differs from Americanism, which can generally only be adhered to by American citizens or residents, although adherents of any of these may subscribe to overlapping concepts, such as American exceptionalism. Pro-Americanism is contrasted with Anti-Americanism, which is the fear or hatred of things American.
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