Americanization

In countries outside of the United States, Americanization or Americanisation is the influence American culture has on the culture of other countries, such as their popular culture, media, cuisine, technology, business practices, or political techniques. The term has been used since at least 1907. While not necessarily a hostile term, it is most often used by critics in the target country worried about the tendency. Americanization has become more prevalent since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-91, and especially since the advent of widespread high speed Internet use starting in the mid-2000s. In Europe, in recent years there is growing concern about Americanization through Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple Inc. and Uber, among many other Internet-oriented corporations based in the U.S. European governments have increasingly expressed concern regarding privacy issues, as well as antitrust and taxation issues regarding the new American giants. The Wall Street Journal in 2015 reported "deep concerns in Europe’s highest policy circles about the power of U.S. technology companies."

Within the United States, the term Americanization refers to the process of acculturation by immigrants or annexed populations (e.g. the Californios) to American customs and values.

Hollywood (the American film and television industry) since the 1920s has dominated most of the world's media markets. It is the chief medium by which people across the globe see American fashions, customs, scenery and way of life.

In general, the United States government plays only a facilitating role in the dissemination of films, television, books, journals and so on. However, during the occupation of former Axis enemies countries after World War II, the government played a major role in restructuring the media in those countries to eliminate totalitarianism and promote democracy, against communism. For example, In Germany, the American occupation headquarters, Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) in 1945 began its own newspaper based in Munich. Die Neue Zeitung was edited by German and Jewish émigrés who fled to the United States before the war. Its mission was to destroy Nazi cultural remnants, and encourage democracy by exposing Germans to how American culture operated. There was great detail on sports, politics, business, Hollywood, and fashions, as well as international affairs. Americanization would continue to spread out over the Iron Curtain even before the fall of the Soviet Union and periodically after.

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