With some international sentiment against American foreign policy and a series of antiwar protests around the world, several University of Wisconsin students studying abroad say they have experienced tension in their host countries specifically related to the mounting possibility of U.S. conflict with Iraq.
Some claim to have been harassed because of their citizenship. But others say people abroad are more wary of the Bush administration, or the prospect of war in general, than Americans.
Andy Fein is a UW junior currently studying in London. He witnessed the Feb. 15 antiwar protests firsthand and said the crowd was more good-humored than ill-natured, some holding provocative picket signs that straddled such a distinction.
“There were some funny and interesting slogans about anti-U.S. sentiment, but for the most part it was anti-war and anti-Bush, not anti-America,” Fein said.
But the Britons’ friendly feelings were not universal, students said. UW senior Ryan Osterholm spent last semester studying in Sydney, Australia, where he said Australians’ dissatisfaction with President Bush’s plans for war spilled over into their impressions of America.
“I’d say there is definitely anti-American sentiment in Australia, but not so much on an individual level,” he said. “I heard the term ‘Wild Wild West’ a lot. The Australians think Americans are gunslinging, going for whatever we don’t like.”
Most Australians, Osterholm said, opposed a war with Iraq. Half a world away, however, they also felt like the conflict was “not their problem.”
But an explosion in Bali, Indonesia, in October killed a number of Australian citizens, which Osterholm said shifted the nation’s attitude.
“I did see a change after the Bali bombing,” he said. “They were able to see what the Americans went through on [Sept. 11, 2001].”
Criticism of America has not waned in Ireland, according to Kate McCormick, a UW junior who has been in Dublin. Still, as in other countries, Irish opposition is ambivalently countered by continued subscription to American consumer culture.
“For some people here, they really do have a problem with the administration, but for some people it’s just an excuse to hate on the United States,” McCormick said, adding that “the Irish don’t have a problem with the American culture; ‘The Simpsons’ airs around eight times a day.”
Most of the students reported wider sentiment against war than against the U.S.
UW junior Katie Casey returned in December from a semester in London. She said some in the United Kingdom still hold bad memories from the Second World War.
“They keep looking back on World War II, and they just do not want to get dragged into any kind of war,” Casey said.
Jeannides said she thought the British were “less politically aware” than Americans, adding that she found a great fear and respect for U.S. military power.
“In the small towns, where Americans are less common, the people marvel at how big and powerful your country is. They wonder how you handle it,” Jeannides said.
“You don’t even know how powerful people in other countries think the U.S. is until you’re in another country and they expect you to represent and defend what your country is doing,” McCormick agreed.
In some ways, the kind of activism is new for European countries. Lindsey Jeannides, a Wisconsin senior who, like Casey, studied in London last semester, said she was surprised so many Londoners turned out to protest.
“[The British] don’t demonstrate as the people in Madison do. I was stunned when so many showed up at the protest,” Jeannides said.
Fein, who lives on one of the main avenues where the protests took place, agreed the mass of protestors was staggering — and put a Madisonian spin on the spectacle.
“The street was packed as far down as you looked; people covered every inch,” Fein said. “Think of State Street on Halloween on steroids.”
