Whence Anti-Americanism?

Britain has long been a reliable ally of the United States, but Britons are far from immune to the anti-Americanism that pervades Europe. Many patriotic Americans are likely to think that this attitude must come from some combination of envy and wrongheaded ideology, but a poll commissioned by America in the World suggests that, at least in Britain, simple ignorance may have something to do with it.

I think they go too far in claiming that anti-Americanism is based on misconceptions, which are probably neither necessary nor sufficient to explain the fierce hostility so many bear towards the US. But such misconceptions certainly do their share of mischief; it seems worthwhile to try to correct them.