L'antiaméricanisme à la française. Mais qu'ont donc fait les Américains aux Français ?

Anti-Americanism is a strong French tradition. This is the conclusion of Michel Drancourt after reviewing for Futuribles five carefully selected texts besides Jean-François Revel’s L’Obsession anti-américaine. Son fonctionnement, ses causes, ses inconséquences (The Anti-American Obsession. How it Works, its Causes and Inconsistencies; Paris: Plon, 2002).
– The first book, L’Ennemi américain. Généalogie de l’anti-américanisme français by Philippe Roger (Paris: Seuil, 2002), a historical study of French anti-Americanism, reminds us that from early on there were many prejudices against the New World. The French, contemptuous and critical, have never hidden their antipathy to the American style of imperialism which considers itself to be universal.
– The second book, Après l’empire by Emmanuel Todd (Paris: Gallimard, 2002), is an essay on the collapse of the American system and the French anti-American stance in which everything that comes out of the United States can only be a disaster in the long run. The French criticize America for safeguarding its own interests yet casting itself in the role of guardian of world order. Todd adds that this capitalist US, which is dependent on the rest of the world, is itself condemned in the long run.
– The third book, The Paradox of American Power: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone by Joseph de S. Nye Jr (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), seeks to convince America that if the country acts alone in foreign policy, it will continue to be perceived as coercive and arrogant. The international order must be a public good designed for the benefit of all.
– The fourth book, Reconcilable Differences. US-French Relations in the New Era (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2000), is a plea for the revival of the Franco-American alliance. The tensions between them, although economic in origin, arise from differences in outlook. The authors argue in favour of better knowledge and understanding of one another, and try to convince the allies to act together.
– The last book, L’Autre Rive. Comprendre les Américains pour comprendre les Français (The Other Shore. Understanding the Americans so as to Understand the French) by Pascal Baudry (cyberbook, 2002), analyses French and American business behaviour in order to encourage a rapprochement between them, and hence to help them to work together better.
In conclusion, Michel Drancourt reminds us that hegemony rarely elicits affection.