Part 1 of 5 in the Defending America Series.

Throughout Eastern Europe, I asked, “What can your country teach America?” I’ve documented their excellent suggestions in The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us.

As part of this process, Europeans often told me, quite bluntly, what they think of Americans. The fact that I’m half-European and that I have no American blood in me (I was born of a French father and a Chilean mother) probably made them more comfortable to share their true thoughts. After getting an earful, it became clear that there are a few things Americans can teach Europeans about America.

(I had often heard similar criticisms in Western Europe, which is why I'm posting this in the Western Europe section.)

There are five themes that Europeans wail against Americans

America’s foreign policy shows that we’re a warmongering, imperialistic nation (see below for details).
The CIA is behind everything.
Americans are fake.
Americans are ignorant.
Americans are devoid of culture.

There’s a lot of truth to these five criticisms. In fact, in my book, I often make fun of these things. However, let’s load up the aircraft carriers and stealth bombers and blast away the five most common criticisms about Americans.

Let's start with the first one and then the other articles will address the other four, although you're welcome to jump to the one that interests you most.

Part 1 of 5 of the "What Americans Can Teach Europeans" series

Europeans say, “America is imperialistic. It starts wars. The CIA is everywhere.” True, true, true. America’s foreign policy is aggressive. However, let’s examine this more closely.

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