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295 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1954)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0295 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD WE should not, and by and large do not, expect that the United States will stand as virtue incarnate throughout the world. Leaving aside the often re- marked tendency of the American tourist to covet and solicit approval and adula- tion, our foreign policy begs the more modest tribute of being understood. We pin our faith on the intrinsic merits of our way of life, and feel assured that we will be admired once our faults and achievements are counterbalanced. Our consistent emphasis upon international understanding, our rejoicing in the ex- pansion of the media of mass communication as a means of cultural contact, indicate our belief that the American national character is a desirable and perhaps exportable commodity in the world market. Whether or not we feel that other countries would do well to model themselves after our institutions, we are sure -that if we are rightly understood, the frictions and obstacles in the course of our national policy will disappear. The degree of sophistication or naivete with which this policy is pursued may vary, but the premise is the same. We have chosen as a cardinal element in our foreign policy the promotion of amity. We spend huge sums of money abroad trying to tip the scales of public opinion in our favor. Our information and education programs direct their efforts toward presenting an objective picture of the United States- a school day in Connecticut, a farmer's life in the Wheat. Belt, small town democ- racy in action. We want not only our way in foreign affairs but also continuous reassurance from abroad of the moral integrity of our actions. For America- the ends of power have been made to fit the means of persuasion. It is in this light that rthe present volume directs its attention to the images of the United States held, by foreign nationals. The reflections will delight no American Narcissus. What appears is a bewildering variety of pictures, which illustrate the idiosyncrasies of individual viewers rather than the character of the America they are looking at. None of the images is wholly laudatory; nor are they so hostile, disdainful, or.patronizing as, the more flamboyant among our public commentators would have us believe. What emerges is not a single stereo- type but a series of alternative stereotypes which are selected and accepted by foreign peoples to meet their own national and cultural needs. To be sure there are a few national traits which are ascribed to us by almost all foreigners: friend- liness, inventiveness, industriousness, materialism, immaturity. The more secure in national status is the country viewing the United States, the more likely is it that we will be seen in terms of separate character traits, each standing on its own merits. The newly emerged national states and our recent or current enemies tend to have an over-all assessment into which are dovetailedthe individual traits they see in us. The countries herein discussed obviously do not represent a geographic or a typological sample. For instance, South America, Africa, the Muslim world, Southeast Asia, China, the English-speaking world, the satellite nations, are im- portant omissions. Those that are included, however, illustrate types of viewers, each substantially different in its cultural setting and in its historical and current relations with the United States. Russia represents the Communist countries, a totalitarian state where public opinion is largely subject to the manipulations of vii

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