America Misunderstood: What a Second Bush Victory Meant to the Rest of the World

By N. Sivakumar

On November 2nd 2004, nearly six billion people from around the world closely watched their future being defined by 100 million American voters. Whether we like it or not, an American election does... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0975514016
• ISBN13: 9780975514016
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Divine Tree Publications
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful book

I am truly glad that I had an opportunity to read this book. This book will help us to understand not only how America is perceived by the rest of the world but also to understand how American presidental Candidates have been perceived by the American people. I have asked my self many times how did Mr.bush was elected for a second term, for the first time I understood how people decide to vote during the presidential election. I would encourage any body and every body interested in American politics to read this book. Its fascinating and very touching to read why Sivakumar decided to write this book.

An attempt to answer the question

I used to be like the typical American, unable to understand how come we had such a bad reputation in the world's opinion. With some of our recent actions on the global stage, I don't think I'm quite as clueless any more. But the book America Misunderstood: What a Second Bush Victory Meant to the Rest of the World by N. Sivakumar does a very nice job in allowing us to see, via the international press, exactly how others view us and our government. Contents: Introduction; Acknowledgement; Great Expectations; Carte Blanche To Murder; The Lighter Side; Osama Helped Bush; Faith-Based Presidency; The Israel Factor; Change Or No Change?; What's Next - Optimism?; Conclusion - War Fair?; Epilogue; Index Sivakumar, a Sri Lankan who lives and works in the United States, decided to take a look at how the world reacts to the presidential elections through the lenses of the international press. He used the 2004 re-election of Bush to collect different opinion columns and cartoons from throughout the world to answer the question "Why does the world hate America?" It's an eye-opening experience to see media from outside our own country, to experience our reputation without the filters of our own biases. Much of the anger comes from our actions in Iraq, and Bush squandered much of the goodwill that we had right after 9/11.[...]. The major difference seems to be in what each group considers important. It's pointed out a number of times that Americans are looking at a variety of issues when they vote, many of them internal (economy, morality, etc). But to the world, it's more our stance on international affairs.[...]. For me, the biggest "takeaway" from this book is the necessity to look beyond your own borders when it comes to interpreting world events and opinions. It seems like half the people think our media is controlled by the government, and the other half think it's part of a liberal conspiracy. Taking the additional time to read and understand how the rest of the world looks at us is key in understanding the reality of our effect on the world, not just what we think we represent. No matter how "noble" we think we are, our actions portray something else completely.

Bring America One Step Closer to the Rest of the World

"America Misunderstood" does an excellent job to help readers understand the complex mindset of the rest of the world about what they think of American policies. The editor should be commended for collecting these pieces from extremely diffcult sources ( 40 odd countries ). Everyone who voted in the 2004 presidential election can use this book to get a reality check of how their voting was viewed by the rest of the world. It's especially interesting to read the bulk of OPEN LETTERS that were written to American voters by Nigerians, Egyptians, Israelis and even Russians of how we should do if we are sincerely willing to consider global peace. Being an American voter comes the responsibilty to think broader on many issues. This is a honest and noble effort to bring America one step closer to the rest of the world. Read this book. A lot of questions will be answered.

A Rare Find

How many of us read foreign news sources? Should we even care? You would know how important it is to read foreign journalists if you read this book. Although, "America Misunderstood" focuses on the Bush Second Term, the opinions are very pertinent to any occasion. Reading the other side of the story in raw form from the original sources definitely makes you think a lot and it is chilling and sometimes mind blowing. Harold Pinter's 10 page article is scary and everyone who cares about our foreign policy should read it. There are few opinions from Egypt and Lebanon that may give you a wake up call about how our policies are viewed in the Arab world. And two other opinions from Israel may put you on a double edged sword. Go read this book. It's equivalent of reading an International newspaper that writes only about American foreign policies.