"The surprise in America Against the World is that Europeans and not Americans are the truly exceptional public in the world. In contrast to the rest of the world, Europeans are the outliers when it comes to attitudes about nationalism and religion—they’re turned off by both kinds of creeds. American levels of patriotism and devotion to God look perfectly normal when compared to the non-European parts of the globe."

"Kohut and Stokes conclude, “This pattern recurs time and again: Americans are different from Europeans, especially Western Europeans, but they are closer to people in developing countries on many key attitudes and values.”

Interesting conclusion here. I've often thought that many European critics of the US are busy studying their own navels and finding them good and 'nrmal' whilst the US and Americans are bad and abnormal.

Take some of the arguments about exports. Belgium exports vastly more as a proportion of it's GDP than the US does, and this is often taken as a sign of particular virtue. Belgium exports quite a lot to France and Germany and Nederlands. Is this not far more akin to the fact that Wisconsin 'exports' to Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota than is usually thought in Europe?

Many European minds seem constrained by European borders. Is it not time for these provincials to leave their narrowness behind and emerge into the world at long last? ;)