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PARTISAN REVIEW
United States as a country. According to this new interpretation, the
United States was a separate civilization, different not only from East–
ern Europe but also from Western Europe. [n effect, America was recast
in the mold of its vanquished enemy-the U.S.S.R.
Trends in American life provide foreign observers with ammunition
for such type-casting. For example, the number of high-profile sexual
harassment cases which are well-publicized in the media are interpreted
as prudery. "Multiculturalism" and its related principle "affirmative
action" are interpreted as thought control. For many Europeans, what
they see as the country's puritanical attitudes, its obsession with sexual
harassment and racism, create an environment in which the state con–
trols both action and thought. "Big Brother" has triumphed and has de–
sexualized American society. Now they juxtapose a totalitarian America
to a free Europe. Intellectuals who hold this view have begun to question
the idea of an "Atlantic civilization" as the basis for transatlantic unity.
At the NATO conference in Bled, official presentations emphasized
the political unity between Americans and Europeans. Oddly, some of
the presentations were almost identical to the speeches [ had endured
during my Soviet youth, when officials made a point of stressing the
unity among the nations of the Warsaw Pact (and the different ethnic
groups in the U.S.S.R.). However, ome of the official presentations did
point
to
signs of impending discord between Americans and Europeans.
Some people stated that Americans had wanted
to
shift actual combat
missions
to
Europeans while maintaining control of strategic weapons.
Others pointed out that Americans and Europeans disagreed on what
they thought the role of NATO should be, but these differences were not
fully elaborated. Instead, problems were marginalized. But in private
conversations, opinions emerged, especially after a few drinks.
The French led the criticism of America. One erudite henchman, who
could converse easily about philosophy and literature, had visited Amer–
ica several times and focused on the "lack of freedom."
"It
is absolute
nonsense
to
believe that Americans live in a free country," he asserted.
When asked for an explanation, he noted that one has to follow the rules
of the majority, play the same game as everybody else, and approach
minorities with a prescribed point of view; that everything bad has to be
ascribed
to
white people, and if you see things differently, you are a racist.
He continued by saying, "Any joke that has a sexual connotation is
absolutely taboo. And, of course, any flirting with a woman, no matter
how innocent, is absolutely out of the question. This is dictatorship,
pure and simple." Later, he said that only American "idiots" could still
be fascinated with Foucault.
