Friday, December 6, 2002 -- America's image takes a beating over war on terrorism
The world admires US culture and technology but not its attitude, survey shows.
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Washington
In the eyes of much of the world, America is an inconsiderate lone wolf that has good entertainment but bad values. It wants war with Iraq just to get oil, and also wants to remain the only superpower.
A survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that the United States was falling out of favour in 19 of 27 countries where a trend could be identified.
The dislike was especially striking in Muslim countries. Seventy-five per cent of those surveyed in Jordan had an unfavourable opinion of America, as did 69 per cent of Egyptians and Pakistanis, and 59 per cent of Lebanese. In Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Senegal, Turkey and Lebanon, the vast majority said they opposed the US-led war on terrorism.
But ill will towards the US was also found in supposedly friendly nations such as Canada, Britain and Germany.
"The biggest headline is the slipping image of the United States, not simply that we're not liked in the Muslim world," said Andrew Kohut, the director of the Pew Research Centre in Washington. "But there is still a great reserve of goodwill towards the United States."
The research in 44 countries was conducted by established survey groups in each nation between July and October. The margin of error ranged from plus or minus 2 percentage points to 4.5 percentage points, depending on the sample size.
A generally favourable view of America was held in 35 of the countries that took part in the survey. Among Russians, US popularity has surged 24 percentage points, from 37 per cent two years ago to 61 per cent today. Similarly, 77 per cent of Nigerians and 85 per cent of Uzbeks had pro-US views, up 31 and 29 percentage points, respectively.
The most common criticisms of the US are that it acts by itself, pushes policies that widen the gap between rich and poor nations, and does not do enough to solve the world's problems.
Americans do not necessarily agree. Seventy-five per cent of Americans polled said US foreign policy was considerate of others. But only 25 per cent of Canadians said America was a considerate world citizen. Perhaps surprisingly, US foreign policy was deemed considerate by 53 per cent of respondents in Germany, a harsh critic of President George W. Bush's position on Iraq.
World citizens admire American technology and culture, but not the spread of US ideas and customs - 54 per cent of Canadians, 67 per cent of Germans, 71 per cent of the French and 84 per cent of Egyptians said it would be bad to spread American ideas and customs.
But 77 per cent of Canadians said they liked American music, movies and television. It was much the same for Venezuela (78 per cent), Poland (70 per cent), Japan (74 per cent), Ivory Coast (84 per cent) and Britain (76 per cent).
US officials have tried to do something about America's image problem abroad.
The White House established an "office of global communications" to provide in-depth explanations of Mr Bush's foreign policies.
Madeleine Albright, who was secretary of state during the Clinton administration and is chairwoman of the Pew survey, said the fact that the US was the world's only superpower might have led to the results.
"In many ways, we are viewed as the rich guy living on the hill," she said. "We have seen this coming since the end of the Cold War."
Most of the people surveyed said they did not want the world to again have more than one superpower.
Even in Russia, 53 per cent said they believed the world was safer with just one.
In Germany, the percentage of people who hold a favourable view of the US fell 17 percentage points over two years. In 1999-2000, 78 per cent of Germans considered the US favourably; this year, it was 61 per cent.
Out of favour
Dislike of the US is strongest in the Islamic world, but even Canadians are increasingly hostile
Conversely, over 60 per cent of Russians look favourably upon their former foe
Critics say the US acts alone and does little to bridge the gap between rich and poor nations
75 per cent of Americans say their country cares
The world admires US culture and technology but not its attitude, survey shows.
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Washington
In the eyes of much of the world, America is an inconsiderate lone wolf that has good entertainment but bad values. It wants war with Iraq just to get oil, and also wants to remain the only superpower.
A survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that the United States was falling out of favour in 19 of 27 countries where a trend could be identified.
The dislike was especially striking in Muslim countries. Seventy-five per cent of those surveyed in Jordan had an unfavourable opinion of America, as did 69 per cent of Egyptians and Pakistanis, and 59 per cent of Lebanese. In Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Senegal, Turkey and Lebanon, the vast majority said they opposed the US-led war on terrorism.
But ill will towards the US was also found in supposedly friendly nations such as Canada, Britain and Germany.
"The biggest headline is the slipping image of the United States, not simply that we're not liked in the Muslim world," said Andrew Kohut, the director of the Pew Research Centre in Washington. "But there is still a great reserve of goodwill towards the United States."
The research in 44 countries was conducted by established survey groups in each nation between July and October. The margin of error ranged from plus or minus 2 percentage points to 4.5 percentage points, depending on the sample size.
A generally favourable view of America was held in 35 of the countries that took part in the survey. Among Russians, US popularity has surged 24 percentage points, from 37 per cent two years ago to 61 per cent today. Similarly, 77 per cent of Nigerians and 85 per cent of Uzbeks had pro-US views, up 31 and 29 percentage points, respectively.
The most common criticisms of the US are that it acts by itself, pushes policies that widen the gap between rich and poor nations, and does not do enough to solve the world's problems.
Americans do not necessarily agree. Seventy-five per cent of Americans polled said US foreign policy was considerate of others. But only 25 per cent of Canadians said America was a considerate world citizen. Perhaps surprisingly, US foreign policy was deemed considerate by 53 per cent of respondents in Germany, a harsh critic of President George W. Bush's position on Iraq.
World citizens admire American technology and culture, but not the spread of US ideas and customs - 54 per cent of Canadians, 67 per cent of Germans, 71 per cent of the French and 84 per cent of Egyptians said it would be bad to spread American ideas and customs.
But 77 per cent of Canadians said they liked American music, movies and television. It was much the same for Venezuela (78 per cent), Poland (70 per cent), Japan (74 per cent), Ivory Coast (84 per cent) and Britain (76 per cent).
US officials have tried to do something about America's image problem abroad.
The White House established an "office of global communications" to provide in-depth explanations of Mr Bush's foreign policies.
Madeleine Albright, who was secretary of state during the Clinton administration and is chairwoman of the Pew survey, said the fact that the US was the world's only superpower might have led to the results.
"In many ways, we are viewed as the rich guy living on the hill," she said. "We have seen this coming since the end of the Cold War."
Most of the people surveyed said they did not want the world to again have more than one superpower.
Even in Russia, 53 per cent said they believed the world was safer with just one.
In Germany, the percentage of people who hold a favourable view of the US fell 17 percentage points over two years. In 1999-2000, 78 per cent of Germans considered the US favourably; this year, it was 61 per cent.
Out of favour
Dislike of the US is strongest in the Islamic world, but even Canadians are increasingly hostile
Conversely, over 60 per cent of Russians look favourably upon their former foe
Critics say the US acts alone and does little to bridge the gap between rich and poor nations
75 per cent of Americans say their country cares
