by James Glaser
July 19, 2005

I received this e-mail on Sunday, and it tells us a lot about what we look like from the perspective of a young man in Europe. We can pretend that America is all powerful and we really don't need anyone else, but some day we will need help and it is always good to have a few friends. Older generations around the world can remember when America was out helping everyone we could, but the children and young adults growing up today don't remember those days and they only see what we are doing now. Like the saying goes, "What have you done for me lately," and for many people we haven't done very much that they like. We are telling the world that we don't need their help nor their advice, and that will come back and bite us.

So, here is the e-mail as I received it.

Hi Jim,

I'd like to tell you three quick anecdotes that show how the youths in western Europe see the US today.

Chris, my 18 year old son, went to the ESWC (Electronic Sports World Cup) in Paris a couple of weeks ago. There were spectators and teams from all over the world. The US team won the cup very easily (they are a professional team, though) and, instead of drawing applause, they were actually booed.

Chris spends a lot of time playing games like Counter Strike on the Internet. He tells me that US players are often shuned when they try and connect to game chats. I grant you that this is unfair, but it happens all the time.

And then, Chris went to the Live 8 concert in Versailles last week. He was far away from the stage, so he watched the concert on a giant display next to the castle. In addition to the show itself, there were pictures of hunger in Africa, and speeches of the world leaders. Chirac and most European leaders drew little or no reaction from the crowd. Bush, as you must have guessed, was booed, and of course this was not reported on the news.

These are three minor events indeed, but they show the way the future is taking shape in the youngsters minds: this generation hates the US as much as we despised the Soviet Union thirty years ago. We still remember that the US came and helped us during the forties and fifties. Our kids were not even born, so they don't feel indebted to your country. For them, the US is this century's bad guy. Period.

So I'm afraid the future does not look too bright as far as the Euro-US relationship is concerned. And the US voters would better do something real quick before this dark image of their country of sinks in and shapes our future.

Take care