The Serbian last name on my U.S. passport earns me a lot of attention. Given the troubled past of Serbo-American relations, my connection to both nations tends to spark conversation. In one case this summer, a customs officer on the Croatian border stopped me to explain why he believed the short-sightedness of U.S. foreign policy will eventually cause NATO’s collapse.

I split my time this summer between a research position in Istanbul and trips to family and friends in Europe, visiting 11 countries in nearly three months. I was born and raised in Chicago to a Greek mother and a Serbian father and I am a citizen of the United States and Greece.

While I visited various countries, I was constantly struck by the similarity of opinions on American foreign policy. Whether it was a Parisian computer science major, a Montenegrin customs officer, or Turkish undergrads, their opinions on U.S. foreign policy were eerily similar. A growing sense of discontent with American foreign policy unifies Europeans across ethnic and cultural divides. 

It’s understandable, given how much the U.S. has involved itself in foreign affairs and the effects of that involvement on many European countries. There’s a strong sentiment among many Europeans that the United States has fallen out of touch with the rest of the world, leaning into the role of the “Global Policeman” despite lacking moral justification.

U.S. attempts at “policing” the Middle East and North Africa have been disasters, shattering whatever economy and infrastructure the regions had beforehand. Consequently, those areas have seen an increase in terrorism alongside mass emigration, exacerbating the European migrant crisis. 

Furthermore, the search for stability against these threats and a resistance to American influence have brought some European states closer to China and Russia. Western headlines claiming the emerging European “far-right” is “pro-Putin” or tied to Chinese interests illustrate a wider trend of alienation. The success of China’s global infrastructure project, the “Belt and Road Initiative,” in Eastern and Southern Europe highlights a willingness to strengthen economic ties with China despite U.S. warnings.

Serbia is the most overtly anti-NATO country in the Balkans. Graffiti around Belgrade urges passersby to “Remember the Martyrs of ’99” in reference to the NATO bombings. Throughout the city, advertisements by Russian state-owned oil giant Gazprom declare that the two nations are “Together for Victory,” while Russian flags fly alongside Serbian ones on major roads. While showing off his new Huawei smartphone, an uncle of mine sarcastically said the Chinese were his “brothers,” whose close economic and political relations with Serbia enabled him to buy a better phone for less. 

While aware that Chinese interests are self-serving, many people in the Balkans and Eastern Europe believe American influence is the greater of two evils. To many Serbs, the American claim to moral superiority is a farce, tainted by the blood of their friends and relatives who died in the bombings. 

As the attempts at economic recovery continue, the Global West forces social progressivism onto Serbia as a condition for trade and integration. China, on the other hand, has little interest in domestic social policy. 

When Montenegro officially joined NATO in 2017, many believed it was the only option available to them. Despite the current political situation, locals still remember the NATO attacks in the ’90s. To this day, posters and air raid notices hang in the apartment complexes in Herceg Novi, informing residents of the different EMS signal patterns for conventional, biological, or chemical bombings. 

At the moment, faith in NATO seems to be at a low point. With the United Kingdom and France struggling with immigration woes, and Israel sparking international outrage over IDF conduct in Gaza, it’s not hard to understand why. 

“Exercise caution and stay alert at locations publicly associated with the United States or Israel,” reads the notice from the U.S. embassy in Ankara, which raises concerns about how our continued support for Israel impacts our global image.

Popular disgust over the situation in Gaza isn’t limited to Islamic countries either. I saw demonstrations and graffiti plastered throughout Athens, Rome, and Barcelona, with activists pointing to mass civilian casualties and accusations of Israeli neo-Imperialism. 

In addition to the conflict in Israel, America’s involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian war has sullied her global image.

Support for the Ukrainian government, which has been persecuting Orthodox Christians for failure to submit to the state-run church, conflicts with America’s commitment to religious freedom. In Istanbul, undergrad students brought up the attempts to curtail online speech freedoms over growing anti-Israel sentiment, and named specific U.S. politicians while doing so.

Oddly enough, my friends and acquaintances throughout Europe were more aware of these domestic political concerns than most people back in the States. Many I spoke with supplemented their news intake with niche online commentators and Telegram channels, or, like the students in Istanbul, avoided partisan coverage by watching the presidential debates live. 

Many Americans on both sides of the aisle have strong interventionist tendencies. The right to have that opinion is vital to our political system, but we must know the full situation before choosing interference. Taking sides in an international conflict is a serious action, one that the U.S. has made too easily in the past.  As many Hillsdale students prepare to enter politics, it’s important that they carefully consider the consequences U.S. foreign policy will have.

The veteran I spoke with in Lisbon, my last stop before returning to the States, summed up the issue well. He implied that as we, the American people, continue to focus our resources and effort on problems we find with other nations, we will neglect to address our own, leading to internal collapse.  Looking at the mess that is U.S. domestic politics, the migrant crisis, and rising cost of living, it’s hard for me to disagree. 

 

Luka Stanic is a junior studying accounting.