AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS STUDENTS OF HO CHI MINH CITY VIETNAM ThanhH - TAMUC
IS THERE AN AMERICAN EMPIRE?
DATA & METHODS Subjects: Students Where: International Relations Department of Uni. of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam When: November December 2010
A SET OF QUESTIONS Group 1: The general influence of America as perceived by foreigners Group 2: Comparative questions on some topics relating to empire Group 3: Open-ended questions
Question 11: Which country you assume to have characteristics of an empire? How come? Question 14: On account of American power, should America take a role as a world policeman to get involved in international relations issues and why?
Hypotheses America scores highest in all questions and Half of responses Question 11 Question 14 The U.S The U.S. The U.S. The U.S. Result American Empire (1) Status Enjoyment (2) American superpower (3) Leadership only (4)
Student participation in the survey STUDENTS 30% 20% 30% 20% Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Military Capacity Raking MILITARY CAPACITY (rank) Series1 United States 1.1200 Russia 2.8800 China 3.4500 German United Kingdom France Japan 4.9300 4.9400 5.3600 5.4700
Strong economies ranking ECONOMY (rank) Series1 United States 1.1000 China Japan 2.8000 3.0000 United Kingdom 4.6800 France German Russia 5.3600 5.4200 5.6600
Political influence ranking POLITICAL INFLUENCE (rank) Series1 United States 1.0900 China Russia 2.8900 3.4100 United Kingdom France German Japan 4.7800 5.1300 5.3500 5.3500
Media/Communication influence ranking MEDIA INFLUENCE (rank) Series1 United States 1.2200 China 3.5100 Japan United Kingdom Korea France 4.2700 4.3900 4.7800 5.2626 Russia German 6.0100 6.5500
Cultural Attractiveness listing CULTURAL ATTRACTIVENESS (point) china USA Japan Korea France 30 26 25 16 16 17 19 12 13 12 12 12 10 9 10 10 7 7 4 5 4 7 6 2 2 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Assumption on Top Investors into Vietnam TOP INVESTORS INTO VIETNAM (rank) Series1 Japan United States China Korea Singapore Taiwan Hongkong United Kingdom Russia France Cayman Island 2.8000 3.4100 4.1900 4.4600 5.8500 6.0700 6.9700 7.3000 7.3500 7.3500 10.1400
Political Influence on Vietnam s Government POLITICAL INFLUENCE ON VIETNAM GOVERNMENT (rank) Series1 ASEAN United States China EU Russia Japan France United Kingdom 2.2900 2.3300 2.6300 4.7700 5.0900 5.4200 6.4800 6.9800
Assumption on Vietnam s best allies COUNTRIES/ORGANIZATION Vietnam should be allied with (rank) Series1 ASEAN United States EU Japan Russia China United Kingdom France 1.8200 3.0200 4.3900 4.5000 4.7600 5.2600 6.0700 6.2600
Will America is a threat? Vietnam: 60% said NO The World 60% said YES
Question 11: Which country you assume to have characteristics of an empire? How come? 20% named America/The U.S. as a potential country having characteristics of an empire 7% assumed China having imperialist characteristics
Hypotheses America scores highest in all questions and Half of responses Question 11 Question 14 The U.S The U.S. The U.S. The U.S. Result American Empire (1) Status Enjoyment (2) American superpower Leadership only
Question 14: On account of American power, should America take a role as a world policeman to get involved in international relations issues and why? Nearly half of respondents (43%) supposed the U.S. should occupy the position as a world policeman
Hypotheses America scores highest in all questions and Half of responses Question 11 Question 14 The U.S The U.S. The U.S. The U.S. (43%) Result American Empire Status Enjoyment American superpower Leadership only
Conclusion The U.S. definitely confirms its leadership in every area of today s world. America is almost certainly a superpower as nearly half of respondents preferred an American world policeman. Appearance of China after the U.S. is considerably noteworthy. They do not refute a powerful America but they always compare it with China.
Conclusion (cont.) America will find it difficult on account of major competitors such as EU, China, India, Japan. America is not as strong enough as it used to be. China will soon defeat America to become the premier country. America will share the world with China. America possesses many advantages. They expect a benevolent America to cooperate with others using its strength to maintain a stable world in which Vietnam will be one of beneficiaries.
References: BBC. America: An empire to rival Rome?. BBC World Service. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3430199.stm (accessed October, 2010). Ferguson, Niall. Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power. New York: Basic Book, 2002. Ferguson, Niall. Hegemony or Empire?. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/59200/niall ferguson/hegemony-orempire (accessed October 2010). Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri. Empire, 1 st ed.. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2001. Kelly, John Dunham. U.S. Power, after 9/11 and before It: If Not an Empire, Then What? Public Culture 15, no.2 (Spring 2003): 347-369. Nye, Joseph S.. Soft Power: The means to success in world politics. New York: Public Affairs, 2004. Nye, Joseph S.. Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History, 7 th ed.. New York: Longman, 2009. Schroeder, Paul. Is the U.S. an empire?. http://hnn.us/articles/1237.html (accessed October, 2010). Walzer, Michael. Is there an American empire?. http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=455 (accessed October 2010).
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