Rating: 
Summary: Ye Shall Know the Truth, and the Truth Shall Make You Free
Review:
This author, this book, are extraordinary. His is the kind of intellect that Harry Truman had in mind when CIA was created, with its motto, from John 8:32, regarding the importance of truth. Get the facts. This author is a master of the facts, and I am somewhat ashamed, having fallen prey to "facts" from others, that I should have to learn these facts from a Frenchman.
On every page there is an eye-opener, and what I came to realize is that this author is demonstrating what public diplomacy *should* be in America--on every single page he compares and contrasts what anti-Americans are claiming against America, what the real facts are, and what the facts are for Europe, where it is oh so fashionable to be critical of America when in fact Europe has done far less for the world, and for its own people.
Four facts stand out that bear emphasis, for they represent what this author has done so well with this book:
1) Europe provides four times the subsidies for its farmers than does America for American farmers.
2) Africa has received the equivalent of a hundred Marshall Plans since World War II, only to squander them all in corruption.
3) The US Senate rejected the Kyoto Treaty under Clinton, not Bush, and Clinton's executive order leaving Bush holding the bag as a deliberate political gambit.
4) There is a one to one correlation between globalization and the improvement of the lot of the poor in the least developed countries.
Now, having "accepted" some of this author's fact, which correct "facts" I had previously accepted, what really hit home with me is that we need to get all these facts on the table, subject to the collective intelligence of the people, and we need to do a much better job of communicating the facts to both our own domestic public, and the international audience. "Public diplomacy" in America stinks, in part because Otto Reich thinks he can do public diplomacy by assertion rather than by demonstration. Facts--open source intelligence--is what will work. The Department of State is not doing its homework, precisely because it refuses to be serious about open sources of information and the process of distilling information into overt intelligence.
The book is sometimes tedious but always rewarding. It is here that I learn that the Algerian terrorists were frustrated in 1994 in their plans to hijack an airplane and fly it into the Eiffel Tower. It is here that I see, explained in excellent context, the term "hyperterrorism." It is here that I see discussed as some length the "myth of Muslim moderation," and where I also see a persuasive condemnation of multi-culturalism and bi-lingual education.
I recommend this book be read in conjunction with Lee Harris, "Civilization and Its Enemies: The Next Stage of History." Jean-Francois Revel helps us see the history of the past as we should: America with warts, but triumphant. Lee Harris helps us see the history of the future as we should: America at risk, unless it becomes ruthless at the same time that it faces reality.
This book has forced me to re-evaluate a great deal of what I took to be "scholarship" that I now realize needs to be subjected to much closer scrutiny. We need more facts on the public table. This book is a good starting point for all of us.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Clarity.
Review: A cogent explanation for the irrational anti-Americanism that is sweeping the globe.
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in World politics.
Rating:
Summary: Staunch American
Review: An excellent book. Mr. Revel explores the origins of anti-Americanism from the European perspective. While exploring the inane and neurotic qualities of the Left, the author includes many pertinent facts which make sense of the longstanding differences between the United States and the rest of the world. A well written, informative and fast read.
Rating: 
Summary: Anti-Americanism is not a sign of American failure.
Review: Becoming American means accepting a set of ideas. Blood or origin are not relevent as they are in other societies. It's a lot easier, consequently, to BECOME American than it is to become French, German, Russian, or whatever. By emigrating to the USA and embracing American democratic liberalism one can become American; which peversely allows the USA to be rather more homogeneous than other nations; the Bush-Gore divide notwithstanding, Democrats and Republicans in the USA are far closer to one another, ESPECIALLY WHEN IN OFFICE, than the Democrats are even to Europe's social democrats and/or socialists. (By liberalism, incidentially, I mean the values of social mobility, free market capitalism and similar norms, not those synonymous with "Liberals" on the left of the political scale). Liberalism is the antithesis of Socialism and, as such, are rival systems; with revolutionary socialism (i.e. communism) being an extreme expression of the latter.The difference between Europe and America is that between one continent which has not yet demonstrably embraced liberalism, continually dallying with socialism, and one which has thoroughly embraced liberalism. A sizable proportion of the European populace (socialists, marxists,greens,as well as the far right) by definition, will thus incline toward Anti-Americanism. "The principle function of Anti-Americanism has always been and still is to discredit liberalism, as liberalism is synonymous wth Americanizaton."(p.12) The 3 keys that have allowed the western world to eclipse the Chinese and Islamic worlds since the 16th century are science, democracy, and capitalism; and America has been besting Europe on these fronts for some time now. Consequently, the "US fills a void caused by inadequacy not in European capabilities but in European thinking and their will to act."(p.18) This resentment of the USA, moreover, has risen since the fall of the USSR; and is the "result of widespread refusal to accept responsibilty for ones own actions."(p.61) "American unilateralism is the consequence---not the cause---of other nations' dimished power."(p.62) Islamic fundamentalists likewse blame America too, as even the Soviets did, not for failure, but for America's success. America certainly makes for a convenient scapegoat whence it has to intercede because of others inaction and/or failure. If sanctions against Iraq were enforced across the board and were not, conversely, continually loosened with the aim to scraping them altogether, George W. Bush would not have had cause to finally lay down the gauntlet vis-a-vis that rogue state. The dozen+ Security Council resolutions demanding Saddam's compliance with an agreement he signed were not thought worthy of enforcement by many nations, however; hence the necessity of Bush's showdown. If Saddam had no WMDs all he had to do was give Hans Blix free rein to substantiate this possible fact. (And if it turns out that he was bluffing about his possible capabilities that DOES NOT MAKE George W. Bush the bad guy herein.) Continental Europe failed its former colonies in Africa whence some imploded; it failed many people in Bosnia and Kosovo; and it often failed, at a minimum, the collective psyche of the peoples of the Eastern Bloc, while castigating the USA morally as these castigators themselves relied on American protection vis-a-vis the Soviet Red army. Continental Europe even now longs for the EU to become a counterweight to the USA, but they are not willing to expend the capital to effect this possible outcome. It's far easier to make this end a theoretical goal; as only symbolic steps are taken toward it, all the while damning the USA for the disconnect between continental Europe's avoved capabilities and its achievements. Such is the thesis of this book and makes for an interesting jumping off point for further study on the issue of anti-Americanism. I also recommend the even shorter "Of Paradise and Power" by Robert Kagan as a useful follow-up to this introductory work. Cheers.
Rating:
Summary: A Frenchman defends what is good about America
Review: Call Mr. Revel, the venerable and prolific French social critic, a cliche-slicer. As much a critique of France as it is a defense of America, "Anti-Americanism" takes apart the most common accusations of the left against America--without lapsing into sychophantic rave about the world's only superpower. Revel has a strong historical memory and an absolute intollerance for cant and hypocrisy of any kind. He is often witty and sardonic--an appropiate touch then addressing some of the ridiculous anti-American chargs. He reminds us that in the Twentieth Century, America saved Europe--and the planet--from two brutal dictatorships, both of which were generated in Europe: Nazism and Communionism. He also defends the broad outlines of the present "war on terror," and speaks the truth about the Islamic threat to democracy in America, Europe, and worldwide. Revel did not completely convince me of the goodness of globalization, but, nevertheless, he refutes extemist and uninformed criticisms of it by pointing out some of its salutary effects for third world countries (not just America). If you are tired of "the world according to the New York Times," then read and savor this book. Apparently, not all French people are unhinged when it comes to geopolitical matters. (And how can we really hate the country that both gave us Blaise Pascal and savors and supports jazz as it does?) Douglas Groothuis
Rating:
Summary: A Concise, Well-Written Thesis
Review: Contrary to the psychological needs of some reviewers, Revel doesn't present a stridently pro-American polemic, a la Rupert Murdoch's Fox News. By linking the US to the liberal democratic tradition, he shows how this tradition is under fire from totalitarian mindsets on the Right and the Left. He provides numerous examples of oxymoronic "criticisms" (really just attacks) of America, all of which undermine the theoretical and intellectual qualifications of the political elites tossing them out. When listed side-by-side, the contradictory nature of these ongoing misstatements is shocking. At the end of the 20th century, America is the lone superpower in part because the rest of the world has avoided the self-criticism and self-examination that are desperately required of liberal democracies. America has been running the race while the rest of the world has meandered around the track. Anti-Americanism wastes resources that could actually be used to compete with America; furthermore, such reasoned competition could make the world a better place. Revel laments Europe's unwillingness to take political risks, and rely instead on the very safe, very proven method of attacking the Americans. The results are very harmful indeed. Finally, Revel concludes that the end is not in sight. Whereas polls indicate that the average European citizen (an ironical term, as he points out) is just not that obsessed with bashing the US, political elites on the Right and Left ARE obsessed and will stay that way. Look for the 21st century to be another American one. This book is well-written and foot-noted and clocks in at 176 pages. Very useful.
Rating:
Summary: Enthusaistic Argument
Review: I can't help but believe that Ravel is sincerely trying to tell his fellow countrymen to look past the absurdity of blaming America for everything and to fix their own problems. After all--what caused the world's problems before the USA came along? His arguments are simple and clear. My only complaint is that his argument is so easy to prove that he ends up "running up the score" on America's French critics and in so doing often repeats himself. Much of Ravel's discussion is based on the same logic as a Dire Straits song with the line "Two men say they're Jesus-one of them must be wrong." It's a clear and easily proven argument, even though we all know that BOTH of them are certainly wrong. In the same vein, Ravel presents many of France's self-contradictory criticisms of the US as a way of demonstrating the absurdity of the French (and often European) criticisms. For example, the French criticize the US for being both too free-market oriented and too protectionist; too lawless and too controlled by the judiciary; having too little culture and having too influential of a culture; spending too little on the arts and drowning the French in their spending on the arts; being too isolationist and too interventionist; etc. It's a lot like the Left in this country accusing the Bush administration of both doing too much and too little on the War on Terror. Well-one of them must be wrong! With such a simply proven argument, Ravel must take up much of the book repeatedly laying out examples of these self-contradictory arguments, and thus beats the proverbial horse to smithereens. I suppose he believes that this is what it takes to show people who refuse to believe what is in front of them what the truth is, like saying: "The sky is blue. The sky is blue. Look up-the sky is blue!", And so on. In fact-even this is not enough to convince some to judge by some of the negative reviews of this book. One reviewer even called him a "French Uncle Tom." I wonder what this reviewer would call Michael Moore, Tim Robbins, Janine what's-her-name, and so on. Uncle Jacques? There is much to be liked in the French culture and in the French people themselves. They have many strengths in many areas. Unfortunately it seems that rational thinking among their intelligentsia is not one of them. Hysterical finger-pointing, hyperbole (e.g. "[America's] corporations pillage the face of the world with impunity"), and name-calling do not substitute for reasoned arguments. Four stars instead of five because of the repetitive nature of the argument. Excellent book, though.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular Insight
Review: I highly recommend this book if you really want to know what drives Europeans to be so Anti American, especially the French. This book gives insights on the rationale Europeans have for hating the Americans and why what they do is not hurting the Americans as much as it is themselves.
Rating:
Summary: A plea for coherent and constructive criticism
Review: Imagine being an American and reading what the French are saying about us. About how we're a bunch of meddling isolationists! About how we always do whatever Israel wants, and completely turn our backs on the entire Middle East. And how we are an easily led herd of isolated and uncontrollable individuals!
Of course, it is easy to make fun of self-contradictory criticisms. But Revel shows that these criticisms are often used in tandem on purpose, so that at least one is always applicable. That's one way we can tell that the criticism is insincere and not constructive.
Another example of being criticized no matter what we do comes from de Gaulle's excuse for excluding France from participating in NATO militarily. He said that the United States did come to France's aid in both World War One and World War Two, but we showed up tardily. Yes, we did. As the author points out, that was the main reason for NATO in the first place, so that we would not be tardy the next time.
Revel asks just which groups refused to observe three minutes of silence for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The answer? Xenophobes, partisans of regressive and repressive regimes, antiglobalists, and so-called "Greens."
Anti-Americanism necessarily includes a number of blatant misrepresentations of America. One excellent example that Revel gives involves the Kyoto Protocol. Out of 168 nations that were signatories, zero had ratified it by mid-2001. That included the United States. But anti-Americans made it appear that the United States was going against the rest of the world here. I feel that some constructive criticism would have been a good idea here. But this wasn't it.
The author explains that many people all over the world admire our American lifestyle. I think this is a good point. Whatever our faults, much of what we do is positive. Many elements of our lifestyle and freedoms could be copied even by poorer nations, and the result would be plenty of happier people. Unless our critics are willing to take this into account, they are going to be regarded as incoherent.
Revel's conclusion is that the critics are being counterproductive by attacking America even if it is in the right. That will only lead to the critics no longer being taken seriously when we are wrong and they are right.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating and eye-opening book
Review: In this fascinating book, French author and Journalist Jean-Francois Revel looks at worldwide anti-Americanism in general, and French anti-Americanism in particular. As has been mentioned repeatedly, immediately after the 911 attack on the United States, people around the world expressed their sympathy for, and solidarity with the United States. However, in short order, the sympathy vanished and the solidarity melted away. In this book, Monsieur Revel explains that anti-Americanism is based on an anti-rationalist, anti-capitalist obsession that is not entirely rational and cannot be overcome by American actions of any sort. This is not to say that the author sees America as a paragon of virtue, quite the contrary. But, what the author does do is look at the reality of America's actions throughout the world as opposed to the perceptions of its actions, particularly as presented by the world press. Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and eye-opening book. If you are interested in a penetrating and insightful look at the basis of anti-American thought, particularly in France, as seen by an actual Parisian, then you must get this book. I recommend this book most highly. In fact, if you only read one book this year, I hope that it will be this book!
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