Hating America A History

Reviled as an imperialist power, an exporter of destructive capitalism, an arrogant crusader against Islam, and a rapacious over-consumer casually destroying the planet, it seems that the United States of America has rarely been less esteemed in the eyes of the world. In such an environment,one can easily overlook the fact that people from other countries have, in fact, been hating America for centuries. Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin here draw on sources from a wide range of countries to track the entire trajectory of anti-Americanism. With this powerful work, the Rubins trace theparadox that is America, a country that is both the most reviled and most envied land on earth. In the end, they demonstrate, anti-Americanism has often been a visceral response to the very idea--as well as both the ideals and policies--of America itself, its aggressive innovation, itsself-confidence, and the challenge it poses to alternative ideologies.

Director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs, Barry Rubin is the author of numerous books, including The Tragedy of the Middle East. Judith Colp Rubin is an independent journalist who has covered the Middle East extensively. Together they co-edited Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East and, most recently, co-authored a widely acclaimed political biography of Yasir Arafat.