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Discusses the views of presidential candidate John Kerry on fighting the war on terror specifically in Iraq, negotiations with North Korea, and relations with Russia. Differences between the ways in which Democrats and Republicans reacted to the terrorist events on September 11, 2001; Criticism from Kerry regarding the foreign policy of President George W. Bush and his stance on Iraq; Consideration of how liberals and neo-conservatives claim to support military force when the nation or its allies face an imminent and preventable threat; References to Kerry's guardedness during interviews due to the focus of the media on his shortcomings under the spotlight; Suggestion that voters are unclear as to where Kerry stands on important issues.

Dealing with the apparent tide of anti-American feeling around the globe promises to be a hard task during 2003. In South Korea, protected as it has been from a hostile North by American forces and friendship for half a century, the news that its brutal, dictatorial neighbour was playing nuclear games was taken as a cue for street protests against the United States for having supposedly provoked the North by its tough line against it. In Europe and in parts of the Arab world, it was being criticised for taking a softer line on North Korea than on Iraq. No radio phone-in on world affairs is complete, even in friendly Britain, without callers accusing America of being reckless, bullying, unprincipled, ideologically-driven (ie, too principled), greedy for oil, Zionist, led by a moron, led by a Machiavellian election-stealing dictator. Anti-Americanism is real and has been growing ever since the September 11th attacks, not because of those attacks but because America has, since then, been using or talking about using military force.although the trend may be unfavourable, its scale does not yet look daunting. The values of America and most of its allies are not, in truth, that different and the dislikes not deep. Recent opinion surveys do show that anti-Americanism has risen. But it is still a minority point of view. Most people among America's allies support the war on terror; most admire its culture; and nearly all of them would feel less safe if there were another superpower to challenge it. The danger is that more allied leaders will follow Gerhard Schröder's example in last year's German election and decide that anti-American opinion among swing voters can be exploited politically--which, in turn, could help thwart the very actions, in Iraq, the Middle East, Central Asia, Korea and elsewhere, that America needs to pull off if it is to convince its critics.