Skip to main content Access keys help BBC logo * Home * News * Sport * Radio * TV * Weather * Languages __________ go [an error occurred while processing this directive] Low graphics|Accessibility help BBC News watch One-Minute World News mobiles News services Your news when you want it News Front Page [USEMAP:v3_map_world_rb.gif] Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East South Asia UK England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales UK Politics Education Magazine Business Health Science & Environment Technology Entertainment Also in the news ----------------- Video and Audio ----------------- Programmes Have Your Say In Pictures Country Profiles Special Reports RELATED BBC SITES * SPORT * WEATHER * ON THIS DAY * EDITORS' BLOG Last Updated: Sunday, 11 May, 2003, 23:38 GMT 00:38 UK Email this to a friend Printable version Anti-Americanism 'dangerous' Tony Blair and George Bush Britain is America's closest ally Continued anti-Americanism could result in the US disengaging from the rest of the world with "dangerous" consequences, Nato General Secretary Lord Robertson has warned. He was commenting on the threat to world order posed by the continuing rift between Europe and the US in the wake of the Iraq war. Relations between America and France reached an all time low following French President Jacques Chirac's outspoken criticism of the US-led conflict. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was concerned about "trite anti-Americanism" in the UK, arguing it had "become fashionable". It's a sort of racialist view that the USA is wrong in principle and wrong in practice Lord Robertson Lord Robertson and Mr Straw were speaking in "Which Way are We Facing", a BBC Radio 4 programme examining the British public's attitudes to the US and to Europe. The programme, to be broadcast at 1900GMT on Monday, also looks at how much British anti-Americanism there is. 'Generic attack' Lord Robertson, a former UK defence secretary, said: "Anti-Americanism I see not as a criticism of individual policies or even an individual president. It's a sort of racialist view that the USA is wrong in principle and wrong in practice. "It is a generic attack on America and American standards and American values and approaches. "I'm very worried about anti-Americanism because I think it is deeply corrosive to a relationship that is critically important for the overall security of the world. Jacques Chirac Chirac - out in the cold? "These attitudes are deeply worrying, deeply corrosive and have to be tackled head on. If they're not, then the future is bleak indeed. "If they continue to be criticised in that unreasoning and emotive way then I see disengagement being the outcome and that being much more dangerous to all of us than American involvement or interventionism." Mr Straw echoed this concern and reminded people of the "immense" contribution made by the US "for the good". 'Obsession' "I am worried about trite anti-Americanism in this country," he told the programme. "I think that people get obsessed about the United States because of its immense wealth and power. I think it's just become fashionable, this kind of anti-Americanism, and it's a convenient parody. "If you look at the United States of course there are things that we would not necessarily approve of, but if you look at the US's contribution to where we are today, it has been immense and for the good. "First of all they did literally save Europe from the most terrible tyranny in the Second World War but in addition if you look at IT, you look at biotech, the things that these days keep us going, make our lives happier and healthier, it's to America that we owe a huge amount. "People need to remember that." Email this to a friend Printable version STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ KEY STORIES Fresh bombings hit Iraq pilgrims Deadly bombings hit Iraq pilgrims Blair 'misread' Iran view on Iraq US soldier on Iraq leaks charges FEATURES AND ANALYSIS Horse racing in Baghdad Day at the races The remarkable survival of Baghdad racecourse Dangerous stalemate after election Water still muddy after Sadr vote Sadrist vote could anoint new Iraq PM Iraq views: Voters' uncertainty lingers Can Allawi heal Iraq's wounds? The Iraqi bridge to stability Baghdad diary: Three generations GUIDES AND BACKGROUND Iraq: Key facts and figures Guide to groups in Iraqi polls Q&A: Iraqi parliamentary polls VIDEO PROFILES An Iraqi newspaper salesman Paper seller: 'God knows who will win' An Iraqi tailor Tailor: 'Business was good under Saddam' An Iraqi tennis player Tennis player: 'I have the same dream' SPECIAL REPORT Struggle for Iraq TOP UK POLITICS STORIES Prison 'not linked' to crime drop Whitehall 'supported Guantanamo' Government wins VAT Commons votes PRODUCTS AND SERVICES * E-mail news * Mobiles * Alerts * News feeds * Podcasts News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia UK | Business | Entertainment | Science/Nature | Technology | Health Have Your Say | In Pictures | Week at a Glance | Country Profiles | In Depth | Programmes * BBC Copyright Notice MMIX Most Popular Now | 27,629 pages were read in the last minute."; Back to top ^^ * Help * Privacy and cookies policy * News sources * About the BBC * Contact us SCRIPT_URL=/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3018367.stm SCRIPT_URI=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3018367.stm URI_TO_LOG=/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3018367.stm DetectedDevice=hi Default_Edition=domestic Default_Bandwidth=hi FIDDLER_DefaultAudience=uk FIDDLER_DefaultPlatform=hi Site_To_Serve=news URL_Edition=international IP_TIMEZONE=+1.0 IP_CONNTYPE=cable QUOVA-STATUS=Success IP_IS_ADVERTISE_COMBINED=yes CONTINENT=europe IP_LINE_SPEED-CONFIDENCE=-1 IP_ASN=21502 IP_STATE-CONFIDENCE=82 CONTINENT-CONFIDENCE=-1 IP_ROUTETYPE-CONFIDENCE=-1 IP_CITY-CONFIDENCE=66 IP_CARRIER=numericable IP_CITY=asnieres-sur-seine IP_LINE_SPEED=medium IP_CONNTYPE-CONFIDENCE=-1 IP_TIMEZONE-CONFIDENCE=66 IP_STATE=hauts-de-seine IP_IS_UK_COMBINED=no IP_IS_EU_COMBINED=yes COUNTRY-CONFIDENCE=99 COUNTRY=fr IP_ROUTETYPE=fixed IP_CARRIER-CONFIDENCE=-1 IPINFO=true Edition_To_Serve=international DeviceGroup_To_Serve=hi Bandwidth_To_Serve=hi Section_Path=/uk_news/politics Story_ID=3018367 Newsid_Path=/newsid_3010000/newsid_3018300 Filename=3018367.stm Path_To_Index_Directory=/nol/ifs_news/hi/uk_news/politics/ Fiddled=1 CacheRoot=/data/content/archiveCache SERVER_LOCATION=THNY HOSTNAME=nolweb414.wtf.nolcontent.net FMTJ_SERVER_ENV=live SYSCFG_FMTJ_SERVER_ENV=live SYSCFG_ARCHIVE_SERVER=http://archive.wtf.nolcontent.net SYSCFG_OUTBOUND_INTERNET_PROXY=http://http-proxy:2112 SYSCFG_MARKETDATA_BACKEND=http://marketdatapages:1928 SYSCFG_MARKETDATA_CHART_PROXY=http://marketdatacharts:1987 SYSCFG_WCW_PHP_BACKEND=http://wcw-apps SYSCFG_FORGE_PAL_BACKEND=http://pal-live SYSCFG_QUOVALITE_SERVER=${QUOVALITE_SERVER} SYSCFG_EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME=nolweb414.cwwtf.bbc.co.uk SYSCFG_PREVIEW_ENABLED=false SYSCFG_DEVELOPMENT_ENABLED=false SYSCFG_REWRITE_LOG_ENABLED=false SYSCFG_QUOVALITE_ENABLED=false SYSCFG_ARCHIVE_LOOKUP_DISABLED=false SYSCFG_FORGE_CACHE_DISABLED=false SERVER_DOMAIN=news.bbc.co.uk FIDDLER_VERSION=5.0.0 HTTP_USER_AGENT=curl/7.20.1 (i686-pc-cygwin) libcurl/7.20.1 OpenSSL/0.9.8o zlib /1.2.5 libidn/1.18 libssh2/1.2.5 HTTP_ACCEPT=*/* HTTP_HOST=news.bbc.co.uk HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP=89.156.141.135 HTTP_X_IP_ADDRESS=0b039872d9cfc71a9d7dce5cef73ed3a53b4e6ba54808c3c4d3d23954bc28 ;89.156.141.135 HTTP_COOKIE=BBC-UID=45204f4dcaf3a995cc68a4aad192f9548433a928be8873c94395eab6612 632380curl%2f7%2e20%2e1%20%28i686%2dpc%2dcygwin%29%20libcurl%2f7%2e20%2e1%20Ope nSSL%2f0%2e9%2e8o%20zlib%2f1%2e2%2e5%20libidn%2f1%2e18%20libssh2%2f1%2e2%2e5 HTTP_IP_TIMEZONE=+1.0 HTTP_IP_CONNTYPE=cable HTTP_QUOVA_STATUS=Success HTTP_IP_IS_ADVERTISE_COMBINED=yes HTTP_CONTINENT=europe HTTP_IP_LINE_SPEED_CONFIDENCE=-1 HTTP_IP_ASN=21502 HTTP_IP_STATE_CONFIDENCE=82 HTTP_CONTINENT_CONFIDENCE=-1 HTTP_IP_ROUTETYPE_CONFIDENCE=-1 HTTP_IP_CITY_CONFIDENCE=66 HTTP_IP_CARRIER=numericable HTTP_IP_CITY=asnieres-sur-seine HTTP_IP_LINE_SPEED=medium HTTP_IP_CONNTYPE_CONFIDENCE=-1 HTTP_IP_TIMEZONE_CONFIDENCE=66 HTTP_IP_STATE=hauts-de-seine HTTP_IP_IS_UK_COMBINED=no HTTP_IP_IS_EU_COMBINED=yes HTTP_COUNTRY_CONFIDENCE=99 HTTP_COUNTRY=fr HTTP_IP_ROUTETYPE=fixed HTTP_IP_CARRIER_CONFIDENCE=-1 HTTP_X_IPINFO=true HTTP_MAX_FORWARDS=250 HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR=89.156.141.135 HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST=news.bbc.co.uk HTTP_X_FORWARDED_SERVER=news.bbc.co.uk PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin SERVER_SIGNATURE= SERVER_SOFTWARE=Apache SERVER_NAME=news.bbc.co.uk SERVER_ADDR=192.168.212.55 SERVER_PORT=80 REMOTE_ADDR=89.156.141.135 DOCUMENT_ROOT=/data/content/www SERVER_ADMIN=nol.livesite@bbc.co.uk SCRIPT_FILENAME=proxy:http://archive.wtf.nolcontent.net/nol/ifs_news/hi/newsid_ 3010000/newsid_3018300/3018367.stm REMOTE_PORT=0 GATEWAY_INTERFACE=CGI/1.1 SERVER_PROTOCOL=HTTP/1.1 REQUEST_METHOD=GET QUERY_STRING= REQUEST_URI=/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3018367.stm SCRIPT_NAME=/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3018367.stm DATE_LOCAL=2013 DATE_GMT=2013 LAST_MODIFIED=1970 DOCUMENT_URI=/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3018367.stm USER_NAME=repman DOCUMENT_NAME=3018367.stm storyid=3018367 bbcpage_survey_enabled=0