DMITRY SHLAPENTOKH
The New Anti-Americanism: America as an
Orwellian Society
I
N 1999,
NATO
CELEBRATED
its fiftieth anniversary with a victory in
the Serbian War.
It
was also the year the alliance added countries from
the now-defunct Warsaw Pact. While it seemed that NATO was at the
peak of its might, some new, perplexing trends had begun to emerge.
These trends have not been altered much by the events of September
1
I.
Both Americans and Europeans are starting to see some fundamental
problems in their geopolitical relationship, namely curious anti-Ameri–
canism hy members of the alliance, in which America is perceived as the
embodiment of a totalitarian society, a carbon copy of the U.S.S.R. This
perception has also spread outside of the alliance to places like Russia.
While it is difficult to evaluate the strength of these anti–
American feelings and the implication they have relating to NATO,
those who attempt to evaluate the alliance's future need to regard them
seriously. This is especially true while the U.S. fights the current war.
It
would he na-I-ve and inaccurate to say that Americans and Euro–
peans are on a collision course. After all, they both continue to regard
each other as important allies. Furthermore, both view NATO as the
cornerstone of global security, thus understanding the organization's
eastward expansion. The unity between Europe and the United States is
confirmed in Article 5 of NATO's charter, which states that an attack on
one member of the alliance implies an attack on all members. American
influence in the geopolitical sphere continues to be strong. As Vladimir
Putin has declared with his country's complete support of America's war
effort in Afghanistan, even Russia's anti-Americanism is fading. Ameri–
can influence is also reflected by the fact that English has become the
virtuallIllgua
franca
from Tokyo to Moscow.
Yet it would he foolhardy to ignore the rise of anti-American feelings
in Europe. They are evident even during this time of absolute solidarity.
In
Britain (America's staunchest ally), barely weeks after the war in
Afghanistan began, demonstrators marched in protest of U.S. bombing
raids. And despite external signs of support, not one European country
has sent troops or fighter planes to Afghanistan (the United Kingdom
