World opinion of U.S. sinking
Dislike of everything American on the rise
By David Wood
Newhouse News Service
May 17, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The United States has often irritated the rest of the world, but lately it's gotten worse -- and more dangerous.
In increasing numbers, people around the globe resent American power and wealth and reject specific actions like the occupation of Iraq and the campaign against democratically elected Palestinian leaders, in-depth international polling shows.
Analysts say America's image problem is pervasive, deep and perhaps permanent, an inevitable outcome of being the world's only superpower.
But there is worse news. In the past, while Europeans, Asians and Arabs might have disliked American policies or specific U.S. leaders, they liked and admired Americans themselves.
Polls now show an ominous turn. Majorities around the world think Americans are greedy, violent and rude, and fewer than half in countries like Poland, Spain, Canada, China and Russia think Americans are honest.
"We found a rising antipathy toward Americans," said Bruce Stokes of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which interviewed 93,000 people in 50 countries over a four-year span.
The dislike is accelerating among youths, Stokes said. For instance, 20 percent of Britons under age 30 have an unfavorable opinion of Americans, double the percentage of 2002.
The 'ugly' stigma
The problem, Stokes said, "is Americans, not just (President) Bush."
Stokes and his colleagues at the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan public opinion group in Washington, found that fewer and fewer people see the United States as a land of high ideals and opportunity. More than half of those asked in France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Britain said the "spread of American ideas and customs" was a "bad thing."
This represents a major uphill challenge for the United States, which, after a period of aggressive "go-it-alone" foreign policy, is again coming to rely on allies and international partners.
For example, the United States has counted on Britain, France, Germany and the United Nations to persuade or coerce the Iranian government into abandoning its nuclear program. And it shares its military burden with 9,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan and 20,000 in Iraq.
Keeping the peace, winning the war on terrorism and other critical goals are achievable "only if people like you and trust you," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.
Instead, Kohut and his associates find American credibility eroding, even among NATO allies.
Almost half of those polled in Britain, France and Germany dispute the whole concept of a global war on terrorism, and a majority of Europeans believe the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. More than two-thirds of Germans, French and Turks believe American leaders lied about the reasons for war and believe the United States is less trustworthy than it once was.
"There is great resentment at American power," Kohut said.
Plummeting image
Kohut finds a significant decline among those holding "favorable" views of the United States. In Brazil, 52 percent held a favorable view of the United States in 2002; by the following year that had dropped to 34 percent. In Russia, the pro-America portion of the population dropped from 61 percent to 36 percent over a year.
Beyond a growing antipathy toward American policies, people reject the American lifestyle portrayed in films and television.
Asked where to find the "good life," no more than one in 10 people recommended the United States in a poll conducted in 13 countries, Kohut said. More popular: Canada, Australia, Britain and Germany. Only in India did the United States still represent the land of opportunity, he found.
No question this is bad news, but put it into perspective, urged Richard Solomon, a veteran diplomat and negotiator who is president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a federally funded think tank.
"It's an attractive aspect of our culture that we worry about what other people think," Solomon said. "The French couldn't care less if they make people unhappy."
Much of the enmity aimed at the United States is because Americans have tackled difficult jobs like removing Saddam Hussein from power, Solomon said, while the Germans and French took a pass.
"One of the costs we bear for taking on these responsibilities is that people get nervous when they see an 800-round gorilla willing to jump.
"But being liked is important," he added, because public support goes either "to us or to the bad guys."
Poor public diplomacy
That support seems in flux. While allied governments generally support the United States, their citizens increasingly do not.
Even among the United States' newest friends, such as India, where President Bush in March signed an agreement on nuclear cooperation, there is "uneasiness about whether we have come too close to America and surrendered independence of judgment to the sole superpower," said Ambassador Salman Haidar, former Indian foreign secretary and head of its diplomatic corps.
Among others, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has bemoaned the state of America's image and the efforts to improve it.
The United States spends about $1 billion a year on international broadcasting and the public relations campaign it calls "public diplomacy," run out of the State Department by former top Bush campaign operative Karen Hughes. Separately, the Pentagon directs its own "information operations" and psychological operations programs that have included paying journalists in Iraq to write favorable newspaper articles.
"We probably deserve a D or D-plus as a country as how well we're doing in the battle of ideas," Rumsfeld said March 27 at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. "We're going to have to find better ways to do it and thus far we haven't."
There have been 30 reports in recent years on the need to improve public diplomacy, including one in May by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The GAO found that 15 percent of the critical public diplomacy positions around the world were vacant. Among those diplomats on the job, one in three lacked the foreign language skills to communicate effectively, the GAO said.
Few analysts expect more than marginal improvements in global public opinion, short of another 9/11.
"In my judgment, you're going to see a lot of this hostility disappear only when various countries really feel they need friendly relations with the United States, probably for their own security," said Solomon. "It will probably take some major event for that to take place."
By David Wood
Newhouse News Service
May 17, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The United States has often irritated the rest of the world, but lately it's gotten worse -- and more dangerous.
In increasing numbers, people around the globe resent American power and wealth and reject specific actions like the occupation of Iraq and the campaign against democratically elected Palestinian leaders, in-depth international polling shows.
Analysts say America's image problem is pervasive, deep and perhaps permanent, an inevitable outcome of being the world's only superpower.
But there is worse news. In the past, while Europeans, Asians and Arabs might have disliked American policies or specific U.S. leaders, they liked and admired Americans themselves.
Polls now show an ominous turn. Majorities around the world think Americans are greedy, violent and rude, and fewer than half in countries like Poland, Spain, Canada, China and Russia think Americans are honest.
"We found a rising antipathy toward Americans," said Bruce Stokes of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which interviewed 93,000 people in 50 countries over a four-year span.
The dislike is accelerating among youths, Stokes said. For instance, 20 percent of Britons under age 30 have an unfavorable opinion of Americans, double the percentage of 2002.
The 'ugly' stigma
The problem, Stokes said, "is Americans, not just (President) Bush."
Stokes and his colleagues at the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan public opinion group in Washington, found that fewer and fewer people see the United States as a land of high ideals and opportunity. More than half of those asked in France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Britain said the "spread of American ideas and customs" was a "bad thing."
This represents a major uphill challenge for the United States, which, after a period of aggressive "go-it-alone" foreign policy, is again coming to rely on allies and international partners.
For example, the United States has counted on Britain, France, Germany and the United Nations to persuade or coerce the Iranian government into abandoning its nuclear program. And it shares its military burden with 9,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan and 20,000 in Iraq.
Keeping the peace, winning the war on terrorism and other critical goals are achievable "only if people like you and trust you," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.
Instead, Kohut and his associates find American credibility eroding, even among NATO allies.
Almost half of those polled in Britain, France and Germany dispute the whole concept of a global war on terrorism, and a majority of Europeans believe the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. More than two-thirds of Germans, French and Turks believe American leaders lied about the reasons for war and believe the United States is less trustworthy than it once was.
"There is great resentment at American power," Kohut said.
Plummeting image
Kohut finds a significant decline among those holding "favorable" views of the United States. In Brazil, 52 percent held a favorable view of the United States in 2002; by the following year that had dropped to 34 percent. In Russia, the pro-America portion of the population dropped from 61 percent to 36 percent over a year.
Beyond a growing antipathy toward American policies, people reject the American lifestyle portrayed in films and television.
Asked where to find the "good life," no more than one in 10 people recommended the United States in a poll conducted in 13 countries, Kohut said. More popular: Canada, Australia, Britain and Germany. Only in India did the United States still represent the land of opportunity, he found.
No question this is bad news, but put it into perspective, urged Richard Solomon, a veteran diplomat and negotiator who is president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a federally funded think tank.
"It's an attractive aspect of our culture that we worry about what other people think," Solomon said. "The French couldn't care less if they make people unhappy."
Much of the enmity aimed at the United States is because Americans have tackled difficult jobs like removing Saddam Hussein from power, Solomon said, while the Germans and French took a pass.
"One of the costs we bear for taking on these responsibilities is that people get nervous when they see an 800-round gorilla willing to jump.
"But being liked is important," he added, because public support goes either "to us or to the bad guys."
Poor public diplomacy
That support seems in flux. While allied governments generally support the United States, their citizens increasingly do not.
Even among the United States' newest friends, such as India, where President Bush in March signed an agreement on nuclear cooperation, there is "uneasiness about whether we have come too close to America and surrendered independence of judgment to the sole superpower," said Ambassador Salman Haidar, former Indian foreign secretary and head of its diplomatic corps.
Among others, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has bemoaned the state of America's image and the efforts to improve it.
The United States spends about $1 billion a year on international broadcasting and the public relations campaign it calls "public diplomacy," run out of the State Department by former top Bush campaign operative Karen Hughes. Separately, the Pentagon directs its own "information operations" and psychological operations programs that have included paying journalists in Iraq to write favorable newspaper articles.
"We probably deserve a D or D-plus as a country as how well we're doing in the battle of ideas," Rumsfeld said March 27 at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. "We're going to have to find better ways to do it and thus far we haven't."
There have been 30 reports in recent years on the need to improve public diplomacy, including one in May by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The GAO found that 15 percent of the critical public diplomacy positions around the world were vacant. Among those diplomats on the job, one in three lacked the foreign language skills to communicate effectively, the GAO said.
Few analysts expect more than marginal improvements in global public opinion, short of another 9/11.
"In my judgment, you're going to see a lot of this hostility disappear only when various countries really feel they need friendly relations with the United States, probably for their own security," said Solomon. "It will probably take some major event for that to take place."
posted by Hanan Elbadry at 8:11 PM
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