U.S.: Obama Restores U.S. Intl Image to Pre-Bush Era

• by Jim Lobe* (washington)
• Thursday, July 23, 2009
• Inter Press Service

Favourability ratings for the United States have risen significantly compared to a year ago when Bush was still president, especially in Western Europe and almost as much in East Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, according to the 200-page report that was released with the poll.

They have also gained – albeit much more modestly - in much of the Islamic world where scepticism about the nature of Washington's influence and intentions remains far more widespread than elsewhere, according to the survey, which was based on interviews with more than 26,000 respondents in 24 nations and the Palestinian Territories from May 18 to Jun. 16.

Andrew Kohut, who has directed all eight surveys GAP has published since 2000, attributed the improvement in Washington's standing primarily to Obama's popularity.

'The views of the U.S. are being driven much more by personal confidence in Obama than by opinions about his specific policies,' Kohut said.

Indeed, in all but one of the countries covered by the survey, respondents expressed significantly more confidence - often by huge margins - that Obama 'will do the right thing in world affairs' than they had said about Bush one year ago when GAP published its last survey. The one exception was Israel.

The difference was particularly pronounced in Western Europe, where only 13 percent and 14 percent of French and German respondents, respectively, expressed confidence in Bush in 2008. By contrast, more than nine out of 10 French and German respondents said they believed Obama will do the right thing in the 2009 poll.

While those two countries registered the biggest gains, the confidence factor also rose sharply among other traditional U.S. allies opposed to Bush's militaristic and unilateralist policies - by 70 percent in Britain; 64 percent in Spain; 60 percent in Canada and Japan; and 51 percent in South Korea.

The differences were also significant among key middle-income countries which Obama has made a priority in his diplomacy. Confidence in Obama rose by 59 percentage points over Bush in Brazil; 54 points in Argentina; 48 points in Indonesia; and by more than 30 points in Mexico, Nigeria, China, Egypt, and Turkey.

The latest survey also explored respondents' attitudes toward the state of their national economies, the global economy, perceptions of their own national leaders and major international institutions, immigration, and climate change.

It largely echoes the findings of other recent polls by the BBC and the University of Maryland's Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), particularly regarding Obama's international standing and confidence that he would guide U.S. foreign policy in a more multilateralist and less militarist direction.

Like those polls, however, the latest GAP survey also found a remarkable degree of scepticism about – and, in at least one case, outright opposition to – a specific U.S. policy.

Strong pluralities or solid and even overwhelming majorities in each country (except the U.S. itself) agreed with his decision to close the Guantanamo detention facility.

His decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by December 2011 drew even stronger support across the board, despite widespread scepticism among Washington's NATO allies, Turkey, and the Arab world, that U.S. efforts to establish a stable government there will succeed.

At the same time, strong pluralities and majorities in all but a handful of countries – Israel, India, Kenya, and Nigeria - opposed his decision to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Nearly 60 percent of Pakistani respondents opposed deploying additional troops to Afghanistan, while only 16 percent approved.

(A second poll of 22 countries on in Afghanistan conducted in May and released by PIPA here Thursday, found that 86 percent of Pakistani respondents opposed the increase in U.S. forces but somewhat greater support among NATO member countries for its mission there than was reflected in the GAP survey.)

Nonetheless, U.S. anti-terrorism efforts are now seen more positively abroad than they were during the last years of the Bush administration. While majorities in only five countries said they favoured U.S.-led efforts against terrorism in 2007, majorities in 15 said they favoured them in 2009.

In some cases, notably in Western Europe, Asia, and Latin America, support for U.S. anti-terrorism efforts has approached or, in a few countries, even exceeded levels that prevailed in 2002 before the Iraq invasion.

More respondents also see U.S. policy as less unilateral under Obama. In Germany, for example, the number of respondents who said they believed that Washington considers their country's interest in its foreign policy jumped from 27 percent in 2007 to 54 percent in 2009. In Russia, where anti-U.S. sentiment has been strong for some time, the number rose from 19 percent to 31 percent.

Asked whether they considered the U.S. a 'partner', an 'enemy', or neither, significantly more respondents, ranging from 10 to 25 percent, in seven key countries – Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Turkey – opted for 'partner' than they did last year.

'Americans don't have to say they're from Canada when they travel abroad anymore,' noted former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who chairs GAP's advisory board.

For all that, scepticism about U.S. policy, even under Obama, remains high.

With the notable exceptions of Germany, China, India, Israel, Brazil, Kenya, and Nigeria, firm majorities ranging as high as 84 percent (Jordan) believe Washington is not currently adhering to multilateral policies.

In all but five countries – France, India, South Korea, Kenya and Nigeria - more respondents said they see the U.S. as exercising a more negative than positive influence on their countries than the reverse.

Despite some modest improvements, Washington's status remains particularly problematic in the Arab Middle East and the larger Islamic world, according to the survey.

In Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, more respondents (between 27 percent and 33 percent) said they considered the U.S. an 'enemy' than those who identified it as a 'partner'. Nearly two-thirds of Pakistanis and 80 percent of Palestinians said they considered Washington an 'enemy'. Even in Turkey, the breakdown was 40 percent who chose 'enemy' and 18 percent, 'partner'.

On the other hand, in Indonesia, where, as in Kenya, Obama has family roots, 47 percent of respondents said Washington was a 'partner' as compared to only eight percent who called it an 'enemy.'

Majorities in all seven predominantly Muslim countries with the exception of Jordan (48 percent), said they were concerned that the U.S. could become a military threat to their country, although that impression has diminished in four countries, especially in Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt, compared to a year ago. At the same time, it increased in Pakistan to from 72 percent to 79 percent.

Scepticism was also especially strong on the question of whether Obama would be fair in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While pluralities or majorities in every country answered in the affirmative, all of the predominantly Muslim countries - except Indonesia - and Russia disagreed.

On the other hand, Palestinian respondents who said they believed Obama would consider their interests in future diplomatic efforts rose from 27 percent before his speech last month in Cairo to 39 percent afterwards.

Overall, the percentage of respondents in every predominantly Muslim country who expressed favourable views of the U.S. rose – albeit relatively modestly – compared to a year ago. The only the exception was Pakistan, where positive assessments fell from 17 percent to 15 percent.

Moreover, for the first time since GAP launched its surveys in 2002, the most recent poll found there was more confidence in a U.S. president than in Osama bin Laden in five of the seven predominantly Muslim nations. The two exceptions where bin Laden retains an edge were Palestine and Pakistan, according to the survey.

*Katie Mattern contributed to this article.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement