Fifty years ago, in 1976,as the United States marked the 200th anniversary of its independence, the world mostly celebrated with America.
Scores of countries sent commemorative gifts to Washington, and in a major global event, 16 historic tall ships, with thousands of sailors from 30 countries, sailed along the New York Harbor in salute to the US. Around the world, with the Cold War still in high gear, newspapers waxed about the United States as a global force for good.
“To gauge the real significance of America to the rest of the world one only has to try to imagine the world without it,” the British newspaper said in an editorial marking the bicentennial. “It would be a world infinitely poorer and with much less hope for the future. Above all, it would be a world dominated by tyrants. For the United States is indeed ‘The Arsenal of Democracy’, as Roosevelt put it.”
Added The Telegraph: “And this is, to an important extent, America’s own choice. She is rich enough and strong enough to stand alone. We need her infinitely more than she needs us. No other great power in history … has used its strength with the restraint, the decency, and the generosity of Americans.”
There has always been an element of myth-making and hyperbole in the American story. However, the United States remains a powerful and wealthy country, still admired for its creative energy of its people and the individual freedoms enjoyed by its citizens. Many people still want to share in the ‘American dream’.
Yet, half a century on from its bi-centenary, the rest of the world is not as enamoured with the US as it used to be. Neither are Americans. This is evident in the lukewarm global engagement of the celebrations as the United States marked its 250th year 10 days ago in the midst of hosting the football World Cup. Extreme weather – heatwaves and thunderstorms – on the eastern seaboard also conspired against some of the outdoor events to mark the occasion in some cities.SOBER AND SOMBRE
From a global perspective, assessments of the United States is far more sober, and in some cases, sombre. Declining enthusiasm for the United States is captured in a series of surveys on people’s attitudes towards the USA.
For instance, a Pew Research Centre survey of 36 countries published in June found that a median of 35 per cent of adults believed that the United States contributed to global peace. On the other hand, 63 per cent said it did not.
Across the same countries, a median of 37 per cent had favourable views about the United States. The median for unfavourable views of America was 57 per cent.
The bottom line is that foreigners generally don’t believe that the United States takes other countries’ interests into account in its foreign policy actions. The international median that it is mindful of other states when pursuing its interests was 32 per cent. Even Americans, in the majority, (median of 57 per cent) don’t believe that Washington cares about other states’ concerns in executing foreign policy.
A separate survey by the Gallup polling organisation found that in 2025, China had pulled ahead of the United States in approval as a global leader – a median of 36 per cent against 31 per cent. A year earlier, median approval of the US was 39 per cent while China’s favourability was 32 per cent.
At the same time, the median disapproval of the United States rose to a record high of 48 per cent while disapproval of China fell to 32 per cent from 45 per cent three years earlier.
GLOBAL PRESTIGE
America’s global prestige has softened since the heady days of the early post-Cold War, but the recent erosions have closely correlated Donald Trump’s presidencies. Globally, the median for people expressing a lack of confidence in Mr Trump, according to the Pew survey, was 76 per cent, against 23 per cent for people with confidence in the US leader.
Across the globe, too, people increasingly say that the United States isn’t a reliable partner, a concern which has tracked Mr Trump’s presidency. Additionally, the latest status of America’s unfavourability rating in the Gallup survey is comparable to the historic low during Mr Trump’s first presidency.
At home, 69 per cent of Americans say that they are dissatisfied with the way the country’s democracy currently works, which Pew pointed out was “higher than in most high-income countries surveyed … this spring”. There is among Americans a crisis of confidence in their country.
Jamaica has an interest in a stable United States, which exercises its economic strength and military might with respect to the rights and interests of other nations, including its neighbours in the Caribbean Sea. Indeed, an estimated 1.5 million Jamaicans live in the United States, and it is the island’s major trading partner, including for tourism, accounting for around 70 per cent of all visitors to Jamaica.
Given the asymmetrical power dynamics between the United States and Jamaica and the other small countries of the Caribbean, the region needs a moral United States – one that appeared to live the ideals that caused the big global outpouring and celebration 50 years ago.
Whatever now ails their country, this newspaper hopes that the Americans can soon put it right.
