Dean's World

Things are getting bad in Burma. The military is shooting into crowds of Buddhist monks who have been protesting the junta that has ruled the nation with an iron fist since overturning elections in 1988. Protests are erupting all over Asia in support of the monks and their pro-democracy allies like Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

By the way, Myanmar is the name the ruling regime gave to Burma, and the name is not recognized by the US, UK or the pro-democracy elements within the country.

China is the junta's main backer. China also happens to be the main backer of the Sudanese regime. There is some hope that the Chinese will step in and force the regime to defuse the crisis in order to avoid making China look bad during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

I saw the same hope raised in relation to the genocide in Darfur. But the genocide there continues.

The Wife just called me before she went to bed in Tanzania. It seems she got into it with a 24 year old New Zealander who felt the need to tell the Wife "just how hated you Americans are in the world," and how we "f*** things up everywhere you go."

Such run-ins with loudmouths abroad aren't as common as you think. While living abroad for five years back in the '90's I probably ran into these bigots maybe half a dozen times. They invariably came from small countries most Americans probably couldn't find on a map, and often work for - or have worked for - the United Nations (Kiwi-girl worked for the UN). You're much more likely to face anti-American sentiment on your local college campus than you are to encounter it while traveling. If anything, the word "American" still causes faces to light up in most places of the world.

I mention this because I've known quite a few Kiwis and neighboring Aussies, and they are truly some of the best people to meet while traveling. If you are ever in a place that's dangerous, nothing and I mean nothing beats having an Aussie at your back. And while New Zealanders are upstaged by their neighbors to the west in the same way Canadians are by their brothers to the South, they aren't a shabby lot either. In fact visiting New Zealand is high up on my "Life's To Do List."

But there are bigots wherever you go, and this little New Zealand girl, a quarter of whose paycheck comes from hated America, felt it was her duty to use my wife as a punching bag for all her pent up hatred for the United States. "Iraq was better off under Saddam," is a common meme we hear on the Left, and one that is not borne out by any evidence from the Iraqis - unless you consider only the opinions of Baathists. "Vietnam" The Magic Word that's supposed to connote "failure & f*** up" - Yes, we're so hated by this country that it is doing its best to improve relations and trade with us.

I reminded the Wife that the United States was the largest single aid donor to Tsunami relief in 2004. Kosovo is free because of US involvement. The EU blew an opportunity to solve the crisis in Bosnia, and it was only after the US became involved that the slaughter in that state stopped.

The Wife hasn't heard about the recent turmoil in Burma (probably because she's getting much of her news from - no joke - al Jazeera). I updated her on events there, and told her that demonstrators were begging "Where are the Americans?" Not "Where are the New Zealanders?" and definitely not "Where is the United Nations?"

She wished I was there to argue with the little trollop, but I reminded her that it was pointless. She was 24 and knew everything there was to know about Life, especially about America. Only age and experience could change it, and chances are she would live her entire life with a burning hatred of our nation.

But in the end, her opinion wouldn't matter a jot. Bush will soon leave office, and a prettier face will take his place. Another disaster or war will erupt and Americans will be criticized for "not acting sooner" - as we did in Bosnia, "doing the wrong thing" in Iraq, and "not acting at all," as we did in Rwanda and continue to do in Darfur and Burma. But someone somewhere will call out "Where are the Americans?" and we will come again.

But should we? I haven't forgotten Nicolo Machiavelli's adage: "Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil."

Perhaps a little American Isolationism - our default state - is called for.

UPDATE: The more I think about this, the madder I get. I am currently exposed to people from all over the world at my job. I work with two people from Beijing China. Even though I am fuming about what's happening in Burma and Darfur, and haven't forgotten the fear that Chinese students at my university felt after the Tiananmen Square massacre, I don't bring up these topics with them - nor do I mention the continuing oppression of Falun Gong. This is partly because of working together, but I also don't hold them responsible for any particular action of their government.

When we travel we are ambassadors for our countries, but that works both ways: Kiwigirl is doing a poor job representing her nation. New Zealand might want to consider 'recalling' their 'ambassador' to Tanzania for not just being bigoted, but more importantly, for being plain rude.

And on second thought, after reading this I think I'll skip New Zealand. I'll go to Australia instead.

I recently wrote about my Wife's experience while serving at a hospital in Tanzania with a 24 year old New Zealander. The girl was well versed in anti-American propaganda and felt compelled to heap abuse on my Wife. The Wife is quite capable of defending herself, but she lacks my background knowledge of American foreign policy and world history. During our brief phone call, I provided her with some basic facts to combat the Kiwi's propaganda regurgitations. Afterward I decided to dig deeper into the youngster's bigotry and did some research into New Zealand's attitudes towards Americans. What I found changed my mind about wanting to visit the place anytime soon.

Part of New Zealand's anti-American bigotry is no doubt due to size. New Zealand has four million people - roughly the same number of Americans who eat in their sleep or believe they've been abducted by aliens. Living in a tiny nation may make one cheer any victory over comparative giant - even in such a yawner sport as yachting. However New Zealand shares similar history and culture to the United States. It is a former British colony with an established democracy and similar religious background, with more Protestants than Catholics, and more Buddhists than Jews and Muslims. New Zealand has spent most of its time since independence under European-style socialist governments. However over the past decade it has become a strong advocate for free trade, especially in closed agricultural markets.

Yet Only 29% of New Zealanders had a positive view of the United States in 2004. That puts it on par with Pakistan at 30% and below Russia (43%) and China (42%). So much for the idea that shared cultural ties can bind people together.

In 2005, an American working as a high school teacher in rural New Zealand filed a lawsuit in the country's Human Rights Commission after being verbally abused by his students because of his nationality. Another American, Douglas Sparks, brought his family to the country to oversee the Anglican Church's Wellington Cathedral. Two years later he left vowing never to return after being the target of anti-US graffiti and his children were taunted in school by classmates telling them they hoped American soldiers would be killed in Iraq.

That same year outgoing US ambassador Charles Swindells in his final speech slammed New Zealanders for indulging in "empty, inaccurate criticism of US ideals or actions that offers no constructive alternatives and gives no credit where credit is due."

Many are quick to leap to conclusions that the anti-Americanism is a recent phenomenon due primarily to the Iraq War. However anti-Americanism in New Zealand predates the Iraq War by about 40 years, starting with the Vietnam War protests and more importantly for New Zealanders to the country's refusal to allow port calls by the US Navy starting in 1986, which resulted in a US freeze on high-level political visits there. In 1998, the Clinton Administration tried to warm relations up in one way by approving a deal that gave New Zealand a squadron of F-16 for a pittance to upgrade its obsolete air force. However the following year New Zealand elected an anti-American Labor Prime Minister Helen Clark who refused the offer.

In 2002, New York Times senior staff writer and former Clinton speechwriter James Gibney visited New Zealand to give a speech and was stunned by the level of anti-Americanism he found.

There was a very black and white view of US actions towards Iraq, and what our motivations were in the world. There was a sense that the US was much more of a rogue state than many of the countries that it labelled rogue states and that was kind of surprising to me. The other thing that was surprising was that people talked of US opinion as being monolithic. It was like we were all one and there was no distinction made between Democrats and Republicans or people who might disagree with Bush administration policies. That was unfortunate, because there seemed to be an animus directed towards America as a whole rather than just the administration’s policies [emph add] . That took me aback.”

New Zealand Ambassador to Washington Denis McLean attributes anti-Americanism to the country's "residual pro-Britishness." "For a long time we were quite happy with the British and I think a lot of people in New Zealand would still rather prefer the British to be running the world. We do think like them." McLean also notes New Zealand's isolation as being partly to blame. It's nearest neighbor, Australia, is a thousand miles away - greater than the distance between New York City and Bermuda. It's nearest neighbor to the south is Antarctica at 3,000 miles and to the east is Peru, 6,500 miles away. ”

The World War 2 generation that waited for the arrival of US marines in New Zealand to save them from an expected Japanese invasion is slowly dying off, replaced by generations who have grown up without any direct threat. Like the kiwi which lost its ability to fly in the absence of predators, young New Zealanders have lost the important roles defense and patriotism play in their own nation's health and security. Writer Joanne Black notes, "the flag-worship of Americans could not be further from the position of many New Zealand schoolchildren who would be unable to differentiate New Zealand’s ensign from Australia’s." Australia, having been attacked by the Japanese during World War 2, tends to take defence issues more seriously than its isolated neighbor. Former Ambassador McLean states "They’re slightly closer to Asia, but the real bottom line is that they know they are vulnerable. We tend not to think in those terms..."

Word is getting around. Travel forums are filled with posts by Americans traveling there who are worried that they will be discriminated against for jobs and housing. Even Left-wing ideology doesn't protect expatriates like University of Auckland senior lecturer in political studies Dr Paul Buchanan, who visits the US twice a year and is "struck when I get there by how it is Rome before the fall." "I have in the past couple of years, particularly related to some public commentary I’ve made, had some nasty emails saying, ‘bloody Yank, go back home’."

For millions of years the kiwi thrived in its isolation. However today it is endangered by introduced predators including stoats, dogs, cats, weasels - and just about anything else that is fast enough to catch it. Only human intervention has saved the flightless bird from extinction. Likewise New Zealand has thrived under the global security umbrella provided by the United States and its neighbor Australia. While radical Islam hasn't caught hold in the nation yet, the support of jihadis in Iraq by some in New Zealand along with the nation's anti-American bigotry should give New Zealanders pause for one important reason:

The weasel is a greater threat to the kiwi than to the eagle.

Years ago a Japanese once told me, "Japan is a small nation, and we Japanese have small hearts. America is a big nation. You Americans have big hearts."

I answered that it didn't have to be that way, that Japan may be a small nation, but it played an increasingly large role in the world. It was only a matter of time before the Japanese found that they had "big hearts" too.

Since that time Japan has sent peacekeepers to Cambodia, Afghanistan and Iraq. It has provided crucial logistical support in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as for the Tsunami relief effort. It has also backed US policies vis-a-vis North Korea at critical times, thereby helping East Asia - and the world - become a safer place IF Kim Jong-il gives up his nukes (and doesn't sell them on Ebay to Syria). Have the hearts of Japanese gotten bigger? I'd like to think so.

New Zealand, on the other hand, is a small nation, but its growing anti-Americanism only diminishes it further.