Provocative, Irreverent, and Politically Incorrect
Telos 135 (Summer 2006)
In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many Americans began to ask the question “Why do they hate us?” Today, those who hate us have greatly expanded in number. They range from Muslim fanatics who wish to kill Americans, to numerous citizens of France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Canada and elsewhere who see the United States as a bigger threat than the global terrorists it seeks to eliminate.
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Policy Review, February/March 2002
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, numerous Chinese web users gloated in chat rooms over America’s national tragedy. Declaring that the attacks were payback for America’s imperialistic foreign policy, they rejoiced at the sight of the “world’s policeman” being dealt a colossal blow. To be sure, these Chinese were not the only ones who displayed little sympathy for America’s grief. Most notably, Palestinians in the West Bank celebrated by passing out candy to children and dancing in the streets.
Yet gloating from the Chinese remains deeply disturbing, as these are the very people on whose behalf U.S. policymakers have claimed to seek freedom and democracy in the past 12 years. That the gloating comes from the Chinese internet generation is even more unsettling, for this small but rapidly growing population has been widely hailed by the Chinese and U.S. governments as the bright future of a more modern, more open, and more liberal twenty-first century China. At this time of persistent national soul-searching about the nature and merits of U.S. foreign policy, a close examination of the grave disconnect between Washington and the people of China is sorely needed.
