The Foreign Service Journal, February 2003

about Americans varied considerably from country to country, indicating, as the report states, “that the dimensions and bases for negative attitudes were by no means the same in each — and would be difficult to change through any uniform communication strategy.” The report’s “Summary of Findings” reviews this in detail. The survey questionnaires were translated into the relevant languages and carefully constructed to elicit atti- tudes toward the characteristics, val- ues and behavior of Americans as peo- ple (not the government, its policies or actions). Additional questions mea- sured, among other things, the influ- ence of depictions of Americans in movies and television programming on each subject’s beliefs. Access to the teenagers was gained through person- al ties with high school teachers and administrators in each country, bypass- ing government authorities and reach- ing middle and lower-middle class youth. In an interview with Robert Nolan of the Foreign Policy Association, fea- tured at the FPA Web site ( www.fpa. org ), M elvin DeFleur discusses the results. Some of the negative attitudes clearly come from adults, DeFleur says, “but an amazingly important sec- ond source is our pop-culture, media and entertainment products” —which the teenagers love! The impression movies make is exemplified by the for- eign student who is fearful of walking down the street in the U.S. because he believes gunfire from police and bad guys might erupt at any moment. “We sent a copy of our report to the Screenwriters Guild in California,” DeFleur adds, “and after holding a special meeting on this, they mocking- ly titled the report: ‘We Hate You, But Please Send Us Baywatch.’” It is a curious love-hate phenomenon that points to the dilemmas of culture and how it operates. DeFleur doesn’t see a role for the government in changing this. “I don’t think the State Department can pro- duce rap music. That’s ridiculous,” he says. “The Soviet Union used to do the same kind of thing, making films about heroic tractor drivers plowing the fields for the benefit of humanity.” But he does suggest that organizations like the Voice of America could pro- vide movie reviews, so that audiences in foreign countries “can hear a cri- tique that points out what is realistic and what is nonsense.” In a detailed discussion of how to interpret the results of the study that occupies the last half of their report, the DeFleurs present a thoughtful dis- cussion of how beliefs are formed, and a provocative history of the evolution of American culture. Iraq in the Cross Hairs Whether or when the new year’s new round of decision-making on Iraq results in an invasion and military overthrow of Saddam Hussein, that nation is sure to continue to figure among the top U.S. foreign affairs con- cerns well into 2003. There are a number of resources available on line to provide the information and back- ground to stay current with this issue, and the larger Near East chessboard of which Iraq is a piece. Before the close of 2002, the Carnegie Endowment for Inter- F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 W e’re not saying what we might or might not do [about North Korea]. We think it’s best to try to use diplomacy. We have to keep in mind the concerns and interests of our allies in the region. ... This is the time for the international community to come together. — Secretary of State Colin Powell, Dec. 29, 2002, on ABC-TV’s “This Week with George Stephanopolous,” www.state.gov C YBERNOTES 50 Years Ago Once a real evil has got its start in the world it cannot be overcome without great striving, great travail and suffering. There will be much grief. The evil will continue until the price of its defeat has been paid, at last, in devoted effort, in pain and anguish. This is the only way evil has ever been dealt with in the world, and it should cause us no bitterness. — Dean Acheson, from “Remarks of Dean Acheson at the Foreign Service Association Luncheon,” FSJ , Feb. 1953.