'The Ugly Americans': From Kermit Roosevelt to John Bolton
The publication of The Ugly American in 1958 created a sensation in the United States. A scathing critique of arrogant and inept American diplomatic provincialism, the novel was written as a warning by two Americans - Eugene Burdick and William Lederer - to their fellow Americans. It is a damning indictment of the stupidity and ignorance, arrogance and ineptitude of those who were charged with representing the country.
In 1961, after reading the book, President John F Kennedy decided to start the Peace Corps, a voluntary organisation that sends Americans to different parts of the world to assist with development and try to counter negative perceptions of the US as an imperial power. The difference and the distance between the reality of The Ugly American and the idea of a "Peace Corps" is the battlefield between two opposing forces laying competing claims on the soul of this nation.
The publication of The Ugly American in 1958 created a sensation in the United States. A scathing critique of arrogant and inept American diplomatic provincialism, the novel was written as a warning by two Americans - Eugene Burdick and William Lederer - to their fellow Americans. It is a damning indictment of the stupidity and ignorance, arrogance and ineptitude of those who were charged with representing the country.
In 1961, after reading the book, President John F Kennedy decided to start the Peace Corps, a voluntary organisation that sends Americans to different parts of the world to assist with development and try to counter negative perceptions of the US as an imperial power. The difference and the distance between the reality of The Ugly American and the idea of a "Peace Corps" is the battlefield between two opposing forces laying competing claims on the soul of this nation.
Soon after its phenomenal success, the novel was turned into a movie starring Marlon Brando, Sandra Church, and Eiji Okada. The original novel and the film adaptation have made The Ugly American something of an iconic landmark of what ails American politics at home and abroad.
Today, as the American war machine is preparing for yet another assault on a far-away place to reassert its imperial power, it is quite useful to reread the novel and reflect on its persistent relevance.
Who are the 'Ugly Americans'?
The Ugly American was a work of fiction but based on facts. Sarkhan, the fictional country where the novel is set, is the allegorical name of anyone's homeland at the receiving end of the arrogance and ignorance of "Ugly Americans". Sarkhan was Vietnam. Sarkhan was Guatemala. Sarkhan was and remains Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine. Sarkhan was and remains Iran.
It is now for the second time in my lifetime that yet another "Ugly American" is plotting against the course of history in my homeland. I spent much of my adult life thinking of the name Kermit Roosevelt as the epitome of pernicious evil. Today, the degenerate character of John Bolton overshadows the memory of Kermit Roosevelt.
Who are these creatures?
Kermit Roosevelt Jr (1916 -2000), a grandson of US president Theodore Roosevelt, was a career intelligence officer who engineered the CIA-MI6 overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, in August 1953.
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The big difference there is that our ugly mofos are a real danger to the world.
