noo, I’d say that what fueled most fundamentalist-Islamic anti-American sentiment was not Americans traveling to distant places; it was American troops being stationed around the globe, or American-based multinational brands asserting themselves around the globe.
that, coupled with rampant anti-third world biases engendered by the former and the latter.
i have read recently (and taken with a grain of salt) the statistic that only 5% of Americans have a passport. or maybe that those that have passports travel abroad. either way, that unconfirmed statistic coupled with American insistence that world affairs go her way, well- hell, i’d hate us too.
Yeah, but most of the world wishes Brits would stay home more.
As others have pointed out, Europeans tend view themselves as worldly because they are acquianted with other European countries. In the places I’ve traveled most (Latin America), I’m more likely to encounter an American than a European. Mexico is about as far as Americans can afford to go.