First of all, I want to share my understanding of the terms Americanism and American Exceoptionalism. To me, Americanism means that America like any other country has some particularities and characteristics. These are the product of the different historical, geographical and cultural conditions. To put it simply, America is different than any other country. However, this is not unique to America. Every country is different than other countries. In other words, things can be different yet they are equal. Being different does not mean that you are superior to others. I feel American Exceptionalism is a code word for American arrogance. It implies that somehow America is special and is superior to other countries. American Exceptionalism justifies American role as Policeman of the world. This is a role many Americans do not want to play. This role is also resented by many people of the world. When did Americanism turn into American Exceptonalism? I think this happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union. There were two Superpowers in the world, America and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was the rising power where as America was the receding power. Some American leaders were resigned to accept the notion that America had already lost the number one position and should accept the second best place. However, leaders like Ronald Regan did not want to accept the number two position and lined up all the western countries against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union collapsed and that left America as the only Superpower of the world. This gave rise to American arrogance which led to the feeling that America was superior to everybody else. This is the genesis of American Ezceptioalism.
I came to America in the early seventies. This was the time when America was losing the war in Indochina. America lost in Laos and Cambodia and finally in Vietnam. The defeat made America more humble and introspective. Both these qualities make you a better person or a better country. According to the eastern philosophy, humility is the highest virtue where as arrogance is the biggest vice. I feel the seventies were the best period in America. America came out of the shock of the defeat in Vietnam and started thinking that how things could be better. There seemed to be more openness and tolerance to new and different ideas about how to make things better. I went to several universities and interacted with many scholars and students. I found them very receptive to my ideas and suggestions. I thoroughly enjoyed the intellectual freedom. Those are my best memories of America. In the eighties, America continued to regain its self confidence and self respect. A strong leader like Ronald Regan helped to instill the feeling that America was still a great country. However, like every good thing taken too far can turn into its opposite, the self respect and the self confidence were moving closer to the realm of arrogance. The decline and finally the collapse of the Soviet Union pushed America to full blown arrogance. My feeling is that the collapse of the Soviet Union has done more harm to America than to Russia. Obama and Hillary are the product of American arrogance where as Putin is the product of the Russian response to American arrogance. Almost everybody agrees that Putin is a much better leader than Obama or Hillary. Putin is more in touch with the ground realities of the world. Obama and Hillary because of their subscription to the philosophy of American Exceptioalism have an unrealistic perception of the world. Obama wanted America treated differently than other countries because it is exceptional. He did not treat Russia and China as equals. He wanted to only lecture them instead of listening to them also. He tried to impose American values on them and tried to judge by American standards. When they resented and resisted, he became angry and tried to contain them. In Europe the main thrust of his policy was to contain Russia and in Asia it was to contain China. In Asia, he promoted a quadrilateral alliance of America, Japan, Australia and India to contain China. In Europe, he incited countries like Ukraine and Poland to stand up to Russia. Countries like Germany and Japan saw tangible benefits of this policy. They felt that while America was too occupied with Russia and China. They were free to pursue their economic goals, particularly when they did not even have to pay their fair share of defending them. It is quite understandable why Merkel is not too happy with Trump being elected. I am sure that Japanese are equally unhappy. However, being Asians they are less expressive. Two examples of the height of arrogance of Hillary-Obama policy stand out. The policy in Libya to get rid of Gaddafi proved disastrous for America. Obama’s concept of the T.P.P. (Trans Pacific Partnership) is a clear example of American Exceptionalism. Obama did not want to leave any doubt that it was directed against China and its only objective was to contain China. However, this miserably failed. In comparison to the A.P.E.C. which is virtually led by China, T.P.P. remained worthless and it never got any enthusiastic response from the Americans. No wonder, Trump has chosen it to be the sacrificial lamb in switching from Obama’s American Exceptionalism to Trump’s Americanism. Not too many Americans will shed tears on the demise of the T.P.P., Obama’s monument of American Exceptionalism. China will certainly welcome this move. Trump may decide to join the Asia Development Bank. I am sure many Americans will find it more beneficial than the T.P.P. In the long run, Americanism can prove more useful for America and rest of the world than American Exceptionalism. Americans may find out that an ounce of humility is better than a pound of arrogance.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
