Do the residents of the MENA region care what America thinks of them?

Great Debates
1

I’m not sure if this belongs in General Questions or Great Debates (mods - please feel free to move this to an appropriate board if it doesn’t belong in Great Debates).

From reading this board and reading so many editorials/articles about it, many Americans are quite concerned with how they themselves, as well as their society and government, are perceived by the locals in the MENA region.

Let me turn it around: Do the majority of residents of the MENA region care what we think about them, their societies, and their governments? In particular:

-Is there any concern about the “American Street?”
-Are they concerned whether or not we hate them?
-In what circles (among the elite? the educated middle class? the poor and dispossessed? the mosques?) is this question being posed?
-Is the question posed and discussed in the media anywhere near the levels it’s posed here?

And, if the question is not being posed and discussed among the residents of the MENA region, why not?

2

Maybe because they haven’t invaded America or any western nation of late. Perhaps imposing one’s will on others begs the question, “Do these people like it when we do this?”

Maybe because, while they live in brutal and often degraded conditions, they understand that many western inner-city areas are no better.

Maybe because only in the west is there an introverted hyper-sensitivity arising from militaristic policies that must be defended.

Just some off-the-cuff suggestions……