George W. Bush has done tremendous damage to America’s image. How to solve this image problem?  By MichaelvdG.

A lot has been said in recent years about America’s image in the rest of the world; to put it mildly, America’s not exactly popular right now. In fact, one could very well say that America has not been as unpopular as it is today, in several decades at the very least. The only time that comes to mind when America was this unpopular was during the Vietnam War.

One of the main people responsible for America’s image problem is, of course, George W. Bush.

George W. Bush is the successor of Bill Clinton. Clinton, a man with many flaws, was quite loved in the rest of the world, especially in Europe. They almost considered him to be ‘one of their own.’ He was polite, charming, and favored diplomacy over military action and intimidation.

But then George Bush came to power; the contrast could not have been more obvious. Where Clinton came across as a charming and highly intelligent - even intellectual - person, Bush came across as an arrogant cowboy, who couldn’t care less about what others thought of him. When others disagreed with his policies, Bush looked arrogantly down on them. Instead of favoring diplomacy, Bush favored swift and decisive military action. Instead of negotiating with other countries, and to compromise, Bush favored ‘going it alone’ if other governments had the guts to disagree with him.

Bill Clinton was a president who cared greatly about the international community and about international law; two things emphasized by virtually every European politician. Bush couldn’t disagree more strongly. He talked about the uselessness of the United Nations and the problems with NATO. Additionally, he ordered a massive war against Iraq which was, according to most European countries, unnecessary because it was not related to the war on terrorism at that time (about which they were right, although opponents of the war and surge cannot argue this point any longer; nowadays, Iraq is most certainly part of the war on terrorism). Additionally they did not believe that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction (about which they were right).

As if that was not enough, Bush made clear that he did not feel hampered by international law in the war on terrorism or in any other war. No, he was the president of the most powerful country on earth, and he would do whatever necessary to protect his people. Whenever he had to choose between international law and national security, the latter would get the benefit.

Terrorism suspects were locked up in prison without having the right to appeal to a judge. They were tortured or at the very least inhumanely treated, because Bush decided that terrorism suspects did not have any rights. And then images came from Abu Ghraib: prisoners were tortured by American soldiers, who seemed to have invented a new, yet old, hobby; insulting prisoners by torturing them, treating them badly, and humiliating them in every way possible.

When the world complained about this Bush basically dismissed them. This was America, and America would deal with this issue as it wants to, was his message.

All in all, it did not take long before a bit part of the world thought little of the United States of America; historically, a beacon of hope and a protector of human rights.

The new president, whomever he may be, stands for a gigantic task; he has to radically improve America’s image. If he doesn’t, anti-Americanism will increase and America will face more terrorists - of all stripes - in the future. Additionally, there are many problems that can only be solved by countries working together. If the US alienates most other countries in the world, it will not be able to solve these problems.

But how to improve America’s image? How can the next president undo the damage Bush did?

The most easy, and fast, way is, and this only goes for Barack Obama, by winning. If he wins, the image of the US - that it’s racist (this is an unfair part of America’s image of course, but it’s part of the image nonetheless) - will change drastically; suddenly, many people will start wondering ‘if they’re so racist, why did they elect a black man?’ Additionally, they will say, ‘talking of which, why is it we have never elected a member of a minority into the highest office?’

So, that one is easy. For Obama at least. But, that will not solve all the problems caused by Bush. There’s far more to it than that; the next president will also have to be less hawkish and, above all else, more respecting of America’s allies… and enemies. The next president has to stop pretending that America can go it alone. Furthermore, the next president has to give people the impression that if the US could go it alone, it would not do so anyway.

This means that the next president has to treat the United Nations in a different manner than Bush did. He sent a UN critic to be America’s ambassador to this organization. The next president has to send a clear message to the world that he does take the UN, and therefore the world, seriously; this means that he has to send a respected diplomat to the UN as America’s ambassador.

Of course, McCain or Obama also has to travel to other countries - the first thing the winner needs to do is to travel to Europe, and to talk about how Europe and the US can work together, as allies, on a variety of projects. One of these projects is global warming. If America’s next president chooses Bush’s approach to this problem, America’s image will not be drastically improved. To the rest of the world, global warming is a given. The only reason, people think, the US isn’t trying to fight global warming is greed. And although it’s most certainly not the only reason, it is one of the reasons that many Americans don’t wish to truly do something about global warming / to help the environment.

With regards to the Middle East and Europe, the US has to change its approach to the war on terrorism ASAP. Arabs, and many Muslims in non-Arab countries, believe that the war on terrorism is actually a war on Islam. This is partially because of the way the US has conducted this fight; the Islamic world has, generally, been treated as an enemy, or so people think. There has been little to no communication with Muslim countries, many believe. Additionally, US support for Israel comes across as too unconditional. Arabs, and Muslims in general, will say; ‘why is it that we always hear Americans talk about Israelis, but never about how horrible the living conditions of Palestinians are? Why isn’t the US helping these poor Palestinians? Why aren’t they sending food, clothes to Palestine? Why aren’t they educating Palestinian youth? Would that not only be just, but also practical from a US perspective (less anti-Americanism, less poverty = less terrorism, and so on)?’

Of course, improving the image of the US in the world also means that the US has to close Guantanamo Bay. The sheer existence of Gitmo leads all too many Muslims to the conclusion that Muslim suspects don´t have rights. They are seen, Arabs think, as inferior by the US. Gitmo tells Muslims that the US doesn’t care about them, and that all the words of the US in defense of human rights etc. are empty.

But even the above will not be enough; it will improve America’s image considerably, but there’s more the US could and should do. The US should do its best to befriend people who, mostly, admire it. The next administration should do its best to reach out to people, organizations and countries that believe that, on the whole, the US is more of a force for good than of a force for evil in the world. The US should also try to educate foreigners about itself; what America is all about, it’s culture and history, how Americans see the world, and so on.

Education goes both ways, however; the next president should also do his best to educate Americans about the world. All too often Americans, even leading politicians, give foreigners the impression that they’re not interested in them; they know little to nothing about them, and when they try to explain to those politicians or private individuals how foreigners experience this or that, they are dismissed, ignored, ridiculed or insulted. Too many Americans don’t know where Germany is, nor do they know that Turkey - a very important country indeed - is a secular Muslim country, partially placed in Europe. They know a bit about the Middle East - Muslims, desert - but they don’t understand the culture of the people there, nor do they know much about Islam or its history. Geography and related subjects are, in short, not exactly Americans strength. This too has to change, and a president could set the example.

Both nominees should be able to do so; Obama was raised in different countries, whereas McCain has many friends living in other parts of the world. Additionally, he has traveled a lot and he seems to understand foreigners better than most other American politicians.

This is what the next president of the US has to do to improve America’s image. Will he do it? Time will tell.