US image abroad surges under Obama
By MATTHEW LEE (AP) 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama's popularity has boosted America's image abroad even though deep suspicions about the U.S. persist in the Muslim world, according to a poll released Thursday.
The survey of two dozen nations conducted this spring by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that positive public attitudes toward the United States have surged in many parts of the world since Obama's election.
Positive opinions about the United States have returned to higher levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001. The Bush presidency marked a steep decline in U.S. popularity overseas, notably after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, because of a perception that the post-9/11 war on terrorism was targeted at Muslims.
"The image of the United States has improved markedly in most parts of the world, reflecting global confidence in Barack Obama," the center said in its annual Pew Global Attitudes Report.
The only exception was Israel, where attitudes toward the U.S. have dipped since Bush left office.
The improvements "are being driven much more by personal confidence in Obama than by opinions about his specific policies," Pew reported.
At the same time, several specific administration policies drew near universal acclaim, including Obama's pledge to close the Navy-run detention facility for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the U.S. timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the survey found.
The Pew report found that in 21 of the countries surveyed, an average of 71 percent of respondents had at least some confidence in the U.S. president's handling of world affairs. In 2008, when Bush was in the White House, the figure in those same countries was only 17 percent.
The Associated Press: Poll: US image abroad surges under Obama
By MATTHEW LEE (AP) 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama's popularity has boosted America's image abroad even though deep suspicions about the U.S. persist in the Muslim world, according to a poll released Thursday.
The survey of two dozen nations conducted this spring by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that positive public attitudes toward the United States have surged in many parts of the world since Obama's election.
Positive opinions about the United States have returned to higher levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001. The Bush presidency marked a steep decline in U.S. popularity overseas, notably after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, because of a perception that the post-9/11 war on terrorism was targeted at Muslims.
"The image of the United States has improved markedly in most parts of the world, reflecting global confidence in Barack Obama," the center said in its annual Pew Global Attitudes Report.
The only exception was Israel, where attitudes toward the U.S. have dipped since Bush left office.
The improvements "are being driven much more by personal confidence in Obama than by opinions about his specific policies," Pew reported.
At the same time, several specific administration policies drew near universal acclaim, including Obama's pledge to close the Navy-run detention facility for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the U.S. timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the survey found.
The Pew report found that in 21 of the countries surveyed, an average of 71 percent of respondents had at least some confidence in the U.S. president's handling of world affairs. In 2008, when Bush was in the White House, the figure in those same countries was only 17 percent.
The Associated Press: Poll: US image abroad surges under Obama
