Notes on a Foreign Country by Suzy Hansen

As a journalist, Suzy Hansen chose to live in Istanbul in 2007 in order to complete a research fellowship. She subsequently wrote NOTES ON A FOREIGN COUNTRY which is a very important, if painful, read at times.  While relaying personal experiences, Hansen provides an introspective look at Americans’ privilege, disregard, and sheer lack of knowledge about other countries and their history. Hansen very bravely describes her own ignorance and struggles to understand Turkey and its people, saying, “my learning process abroad was three fold: I was learning about foreign countries; I was learning about America’s role in the world; I was also slowly understanding my own psychology and temperament and prejudices – the very thing that made it so impossible to acquire worldly knowledge in the first place.” 

NOTES ON A FOREIGN COUNTRY is a book which invites quiet reflection upon comments such as: “Americans are surprised by the direct relationship between their country and foreign ones because we don’t acknowledge that America is an empire; it is impossible to understand a relationship if you are not aware you are in one” or (quoting Moshin Hamid) “There’s an America that exists inside the borders of the United States, which is a very different entity from the America that projects its force outside the United States.” It is indeed difficult to grasp that contrast if one does not have an opportunity to speak with citizens of other countries or to travel or live abroad – something everyone, like Hansen, should strive to experience.  

One sense of what others are thinking is available through the Global Attitudes and Trends Studies from Pew Research Center.   The map below, for example, illustrates the less favorable global opinions about America in 2017:

It is truly difficult to fully appreciate others’ perspectives and one’s own biases; as Hansen says, “an objective American mind is first and foremost still an American mind.” While that summary may feel overly critical to some, it should help readers to consider the potential outcomes of what Hansen calls “the American vision of its place in the world: as guardian and enforcer.” Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NOTES ON A FOREIGN COUNTRY received a starred review from Booklist and merits contemplative readership, empathetic exploration, and energetic discussion.