Criticism of the United States government encompasses a wide range of sentiments about the actions and policies of the United States. Historically, domestic and international criticism of the United States has been driven by its embracement of classical economics, manifest destiny, hemispheric exclusion and exploitation of the Global South, military intervention, and alleged practice of neocolonialism, with its unipolar global position giving it a special responsibility which many feel is misused purely for self-gain, in contradiction with the beliefs and values of American people. This perpetuates negative sentiment towards the US and fuels criticism which is pervasive around the world.
Throughout more than two hundred years, multiple stages of isolationism and interventionism, it has gone through distinct phases that have been driven by internal forces and reacted to external regional and global dynamics. Generally, scholars talk about a inconsistencies and contradictions that have led to harsh critiques by both allies and others domestically and internationally. However, the consistent thread of United States government policy, as with all states is primarily driven by domestic forces. Criticism has been leveled against the competence of its leaders,[1][2][3] perceived corruption,[4][5] and its foreign policy.[6]
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein greets Donald Rumsfeld, a special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, in Baghdad on December 20, 1983. Rumsfeld came to discuss an aid program.
The U.S. has been criticized for making statements supporting peace and respecting national sovereignty, but while carrying out military actions such as in Grenada, fomenting a civil war in Colombia to break off Panama, and invading Iraq. The U.S. has been criticized for advocating free trade but while protecting local industries with import tariffs on foreign goods such as lumber[8] and agricultural products. The U.S. has also been criticized for advocating concern for human rights while refusing to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The U.S. has publicly stated that it is opposed to torture, but has been criticized for condoning it in the School of the Americas. The U.S. has advocated a respect for national sovereignty but has supported internal guerrilla movements and paramilitary organizations, such as the Contras in Nicaragua.[9][10] The U.S. has been criticized for voicing concern about narcotics production in countries such as Bolivia and Venezuela but doesn't follow through on cutting certain bilateral aid programs.[11] However, some defenders argue that a policy of rhetoric while doing things counter to the rhetoric was necessary in the sense of realpolitik and helped secure victory against the dangers of tyranny and totalitarianism.[12]
The U.S. has been criticized for supporting dictatorships with economic assistance and military hardware.[13][14]
Some critics charge that U.S. government aid should be higher given the high levels of gross domestic product.[19][20] The U.S. pledged 0.7% of GDP at a global conference in Mexico.[21][22] However, since the U.S. grants tax breaks to nonprofits, it subsidizes relief efforts abroad,[23] although other nations also subsidize charitable activity abroad.[24] Most foreign aid (79%) came not from government sources but from private foundations, corporations, voluntary organizations, universities, religious organizations and individuals. According to the Index of Global Philanthropy, the United States is the top donor in absolute amounts.[25]
Kyoto, Japan, in 2008. The Kyoto Protocol treaty was an effort by many nations to tackle environmental problems, but the U.S. was criticized for failing to support this effort in 1997.
The U.S. has also been criticized for failure to support the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.[26][27]
There has been sharp criticism about the U.S. response to the Holocaust: That it failed to admit Jews fleeing persecution from Europe at the beginning of World War II, and that it did not act decisively enough to prevent or stop the Holocaust.[28][29]
Critic Robert McMahon thinks Congress has been excluded from foreign policy decision making, and that this is detrimental.[30] Other writers suggest a need for greater congressional participation.[31]
Jim Webb, former Democratic senator from Virginia and former Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration, believes that Congress has an ever-decreasing role in U.S. foreign policy making. September 11, 2001 precipitated this change, where "powers quickly shifted quickly to the Presidency as the call went up for centralized decision making in a traumatized nation where, quick, decisive action was considered necessary. It was considered politically dangerous and even unpatriotic to question this shift, lest one be accused of impeding national safety during a time of war."[32]
Since that time, Webb thinks Congress has become largely irrelevant in shaping and executing of U.S. foreign policy. He cites the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA), the U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement, and the 2011 military intervention in Libya as examples of growing legislative irrelevance. Regarding the SFA, "Congress was not consulted in any meaningful way. Once the document was finalized, Congress was not given the opportunity to debate the merits of the agreement, which was specifically designed to shape the structure of our long-term relations in Iraq" (11). "Congress did not debate or vote on this agreement, which set U.S. policy toward an unstable regime in an unstable region of the world."[32] The Iraqi Parliament, by contrast, voted on the measure twice. The U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement is described by the Obama administration has a "legally binding executive agreement" that outlines the future of U.S.-Afghan relations and designated Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally. "It is difficult to understand how any international agreement negotiated, signed, and authored only by our executive branch of government can be construed as legally binding in our constitutional system," Webb argues.[32]
Finally, Webb identifies the U.S. intervention in Libya as a troubling historical precedent. "The issue in play in Libya was not simply whether the president should ask Congress for a declaration of war. Nor was it wholly about whether Obama violated the edicts of the War Powers Act, which in this writer's view he clearly did. The issue that remains to be resolved is whether a president can unilaterally begin, and continue, a military campaign for reasons that he alone defines as meeting the demanding standards of a vital national interest worth of risking American lives and expending billions of dollars of taxpayer money."[32] When the military campaign lasted months, President Barack Obama did not seek approval of Congress to continue military activity.[32]
International law
The US government has revoked or reduced the judicial immunity of some foreign government, which is somewhat unusual in international law. In most cases, the US government's conduct cannot be equated with international law, as the International Court of Justice has ruled.[33]
In general, it can be said that "judicial immunity of governments" means that no government has the right to try or prosecute the independent and ruling government of another country in its courts. "The judicial immunity of the governments" in international law refers to the rules and principles of law, according to which the foreign government will be safe from the exercise of the authority of another government.[34]
In recent years, US courts have focused on implicit waiver of judicial immunity of other governments due to the United States' government insistence.[35] In many foreign policy cases, the US government has prioritized its own interests by undermining the judicial immunity of other governments and abusing the provisions of international law.[36] The US State Immunity Act is in conflict with international law, although in many cases the parties to the dispute have sought to challenge the law with their defenses under the US State Immunity Act, the courts have always upheld the validity of the law, while many of these objections look right and legal.[37] Some jurists have explicitly stated that US foreign government judicial immunity regulations can hardly be adapted to the provisions of international law.[38] The International Court of Justice has in several cases declared the US foreign government judicial immunity regulations outside the legal limits.[39][40]
Government structure
Executive branch
Presidential incompetency
One difficulty of the American government is that the lack of oversight for presidents offers no safeguards for presidential incompetency. For example, Barack Obama has been increasingly criticized for his expansive views on executive powers and mismanaging of several situations, including the Syrian Civil War.[41] In addition, George W. Bush, who was criticized as entering the Iraq War too hastily, had no reproach for his advocacy of the war.[26][42][43][44][45][46][47]
George H. W. Bush was criticized for stopping the first Iraq War too soon without finishing the task of capturing Saddam Hussein.[44] Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger criticized Jimmy Carter for numerous foreign policy mistakes, including a decision to admit the ailing Shah of Iran into the United States for medical treatment, as well as a bungled military mission to try to rescue the hostages in Tehran.[48]
Virtually every president in modern history has been criticized for incompetency in some fashion. However, there are little to no mechanisms in place to provide accountability. Since the only way to remove an incompetent president is with the rather difficult policy of impeachment, it is possible for a marginally competent or incompetent president to stay in office for four to eight years and cause great mischief.[49][50]
Over-burdened presidency
Presidents have not only foreign policy responsibilities, but sizable domestic duties too. In addition, the presidency is the head of a political party. As a result, it is tough for one person to manage disparate tasks, in one view. Many believe that this overburdened duty of presidents allows for incompetency in government.[51]
Presidents may lack experience
Since the constitution requires no prior experience in diplomacy, government, or military service, it is possible to elect presidents with scant foreign policy experience. Clearly the record of past presidents confirms this, and that presidents who have had extensive diplomatic, military, and foreign policy experience have been the exception, not the rule. In recent years, presidents had relatively more experience in such tasks as peanut farming, acting and governing governorships than in international affairs. It has been debated whether voters are sufficiently skillful to assess the foreign policy potential of presidential candidates, since foreign policy experience is only one of a long list of attributes in which voters tend to select candidates.[26] President Obama has been widely criticized as too inexperienced for the job, having only served in government for three years before his presidential election. However, party leadership and donors were adamant in their advocacy due his broad appeal, leading to a nominee with little experience.[52]
In addition, an increasing difficulty for providing well-versed presidents is that the American people in recent years are, in increasing numbers, more distrustful of their government and longterm, career politicians. As such, inexperienced candidates often perform better.[53]
Excessive authority of the presidency
In contrast to criticisms that presidential attention is divided into competing tasks, some critics charge that presidents have too much power, and that there is the potential for tyranny or authoritarianism. Many presidents have circumvented the national security decision-making process, including Trump, Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton, and Reagan, as well as others historically.[26] Many critics see a danger in too much executive authority.[54][55][56][57][58][59]
Masoud Jafari Jozani is an Iranian film director, screenwriter and producer. He has received an award for the best short film at the Fajr International Film Festival. In the Wind's Eye is one of Jafari Jozani's most notable works, which he directed and wrote. This TV series In the Wind's Eye was the first Iranian film to be shot in the United States since the Iranian Revolution (1979) and one of the most expensive films in the history of Iran, with a budget of $12 million.
Gavkhouni also written as Gawkhuni or Batlaq-e-Gavkhuni, located in the Iranian Plateau in central Iran, east of the city of Isfahan, is the terminal basin of the Zayandeh River. Gavkhouni is a salt marsh with a salinity of 31.5% and an average depth of about 1 m. The salt marsh can dry up in summer. The Zayandeh River originates in the Zagros mountains, and travels around 300 km, before terminating in Gavkhouni.
Rakhshān Banietemad is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. Her title as "First Lady of Iranian Cinema" is not only a reference to her prominence as a filmmaker, but also connotes her social role of merging politics and family in her work. Her signature style focuses on a character representing a part of society to explore while remaining objectively neutral. The first period of Banietemad's cinematic activity originates from dark humor. Still, in the second period of her work, dark humor gives way to serious and influential films, and deeper and broader issues are addressed. Banietemad has a more balanced view of life.
Abdollah Momeni is an Iranian student leader and activist. He became involved in the movement in the July 1999 protests, when large numbers of students across the country protested the abolition of pro-reform newspaper Salam. Abdollah Momeni worked as a longtime spokesman of the Alumni Association of Iran organization, which focuses on enforcement of democracy and human rights protection.
The Iranian presidential election debates of 2013 was held from 31 May to 7 June. For the 2013 election, the IRIB has approved three televised debates with all candidates, different from last election's format which was person-by-person. For each question, one candidate was chosen randomly to give his response. Then, other candidates shared their ideas. The eight candidates have explained their cultural and political plans during debates. The debates were focused on such issues as the economy, foreign policy, and Iran’s comprehensive talks with the P5+1 group over the country’s nuclear energy program. More than 45,000,000 people world-wide watched the debates according to IRIB.
Danial Hakimi is an Iranian film, stage, TV, and radio actor/director born on March 5, 1964, in Shahrud, Iran.
Islamic Azad University, UAE Branch also shortly known as Azad University of Dubai is a major private research university located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and was founded in 1982. It is one of the International campuses of the Islamic Azad University system.
Mohammad Mokhber is an Iranian politician. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council since September 2022 and also advisor and aide to the Supreme Leader of Iran since September 2024.
Saeed Akef is an Iranian author and memoir writer who often writes about the Iran–Iraq War. His books have been one of the most widely published books about that war. Borunsi (2004) has been reprinted more than 200 times since its first edition, and is amongst the bestselling books in Iran. Nasime Taghdir has been a nominee in the 10th Holy Defense Year Book Award.
Several states in the Caspian region, including the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Azerbaijan use ad hoc diplomatic relations to build trust and goodwill as well as to boost the bargaining power of their governments.
The De-escalation policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a strategy in Iran's foreign policy that began during the second term of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's presidency and with the presidency of Mohammad Khatami since 1997, special attention was paid to this strategy. Hassan Rouhani also mentioned the de-escalation policy as his top priority during his presidency.
The policy of exporting the Islamic Revolution is a strategy in Iran's foreign policy that believes in exporting the teachings of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 to achieve similar examples in Islamic and even non-Islamic countries. This policy has been explicitly and at various times announced by Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. One of the basic slogans of the Islamic Revolution of Iran is the export of the revolution. Accordingly, the purpose is exporting the revolution as a culture, ideology and an intellectual and epistemological method.
Kelid was a non-partisan Persian language newspaper established in 2013. It was banned in November 2021 by the government council for monitoring publication. According to foreign and domestic press, it was banned for hinting at criticizing the Supreme leader for millions of Iranians being under the poverty line by using a photo of the bloody hand of Ali Khamenei on the front page. The owners were charged.
The United States Cultural Diplomacy in Iran refers to the use of soft power of cultural diplomacy by the US government towards Iran in order to achieve its own interests.
Iran Between Two Revolutions is a book by Ervand Abrahamian that was published in 1982 by Princeton University Press.
Attack on the Iranian Embassy in London was an incident that took place on Friday, March 9, 2018 by some supporters of Sadiq al-Shirazi affiliated with the Mahdi Servants Union. With the intention of supporting al-Shirazi's school and protesting the arrest of Hussein al-Shirazi by the Islamic Republic of Iran, these people entered the premises and balcony of the Iranian Embassy in London, pulled down the Iranian flag and displayed the flag of their own group. The attackers also chanted slogans against the Iranian authorities and cursed Aisha, Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman. The attack was covered live by some satellite TV channels, including Fadak satellite channel, which is said to be affiliated with Yasser Al-Habib, a Kuwaiti Shia Muslim scholar resident of London.
House with Open Door is a book by Kameel Ahmady that examines the social phenomenon of cohabitation, called "white marriage" in Iran, in which couples live together without legally marrying.
Forbidden tale: A comprehensive study on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) in Iran was written by Kameel Ahmady, a British Iranian social researcher and anthropologist, and published by Mehri Publishing House in 2020 in London. The book is based on Ahmady's research from 2017 to 2018, which aimed to investigate the challenges and attitudes towards the Iranian transgender and homosexual community. The book later become available in Persian, Kurdish, French, Spanish, and English.
Echo of Silence is a book related to the issue of women's studies in Iran. Kameel Ahmady, a social anthropologist and researcher, supervised a research book titled "Echo of Silence", which is a study about child marriage in Iran. It was published on October 11, 2016, which is also the International Day of the Girl Child. The book is based on research that Ahmady and his colleagues conducted in seven provinces of Iran between 2015 and 2016. They aimed to understand the nature of child marriage in Iran and provide suggestions for social and cultural policymakers. The Persian version of this book was published by Shirazeh Publishing House and unveiled national in library and the English version published in 2017 by Nova publishing in USA.
↑ Sanford Levinson (October 16, 2006). "Our Broken Constitution". University of Texas School of Law – News & Events. Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
Eland, Ivan. The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed. Oakland, Calif: Independent Institute, 2004. ISBN0-945999-98-4
Esparza, Marcia; Henry R. Huttenbach; Daniel Feierstein, eds. State Violence and Genocide in Latin America: The Cold War Years (Critical Terrorism Studies). Routledge, 2011. ISBN0415664578
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