## Anti-American Terrorism

#### Anti-American terrorism is primarily fueled by foreign policy and a legacy of interventionalism, rather than a distrust in democracy or “western values.”

*   [Pew Research: Kohut 05](https://www.pewresearch.org/2005/11/10/arab-and-muslim-perceptions-of-the-united-states/)
    *   An analysis of Middle Eastern perceptions and their relations to terrorism
    *   Found that the U.S. is less popular in the Middle East than in any other part of the world and that _“anti-Americanism around the world is **driven** first and foremost by **opposition to U.S. foreign policy**.”_
    *   High pluralities in all Middle Eastern countries surveyed cited opposition to the U.S. based on: 
        *   The war in Iraq
        *   The war on terror
        *   the perception that America acts unilaterally on the world stage
        *   U.S. policy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
    *   Also found that Middle Easterners do not hate so-called “Western values” nor cite that as a point of opposition against the U.S.
        *   _“overwhelming majorities of Jordanians, Lebanese, and Moroccans say **democracy** is not just a Western way of governance, and that **it can work in their countries**”_
*   [Pew Research 05](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2005/07/14/islamic-extremism-common-concern-for-muslim-and-western-publics/)
    *   Support for democracy is high in Middle Eastern countries; the public generally does not have a hatred for perceived “Western values”
    *   The following proportions of the public say that democracy can work well and is not just for the West:
        *   Morocco (83%)
        *   Lebanon (83%)
        *   Jordan (80%)
        *   Indonesia (77%)
        *   Turkey (48%)
        *   Pakistan (43%)