US, Ukraine or Middle East? Ferguson Images Made It Hard to Tell

The images out of Ferguson, Missouri, looked more like what one sees in Middle Eastern hot spots than in a Midwestern town: peaceful protesters from an alienated minority brutally dispered by law enforcers armed with military-grade weapons.

To many Americans, the disregard for fundamental constitutional rights shown by Ferguson cops laid bare a deep-seated racism in at least one community in the U.S. heartland. But many observers around the world saw an even more disturbing dynamic at work.

In their eyes, Americans were exposed as hypocrites on human rights—promoters of a strict standard of behavior abroad while harboring the most egregious violations at home.

Countries with their own histories of human-rights abuses are now pointing at the treatment of blacks and protesters of all races in the U.S as proof of a self-righteous double standard. Even though the story is fading from the headlines, it is likely to have much longer-playing impact on foreign perceptions of the U.S.—and a profound role in the propaganda wars. (For our earlier coverage of Ferguson, please click here and here.)

Criticism From Hostile Governments

IRAN: The U.S. has frequently denounced Iran’s violent suppression of dissent. After Ferguson, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei wasted no time in putting this on a Twitter account attributed to him:

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RUSSIA: The Russian government, which rarely misses an opportunity to criticize the U.S., has said nothing official so far about the Ferguson unrest, but the Kremlin-backed TV network RT has covered the protests closely. “We’re currently in Ferguson, where tensions have been flying high ever since Saturday when 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by multiple shots by police officers.” (Ironically,opposition figures in Russia worry that the police response in Ferguson will give Vladimir Putin—who often uses Western precedents to justify his own actions—an excuse to crack down on dissidents when it suits him.)

CHINA: China’s official Xinhua news agency said that Ferguson is an example of how America’s “racial divide still remains a deeply-rooted chronic disease that keeps tearing U.S. society apart.” It added: “The Ferguson incident once again demonstrates that even if a country that has for years tried to play the role of an international human rights judge and defender, there is still much room for improvement at home.”

EGYPT: The U.S. has criticized this country for its brutal response to the Arab Spring, and the persecution of minority sects. Now its government is asking the U.S. to show “restraint and respect for the right of assembly and peaceful expression of opinion”

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