U.S. Image Abroad Still Sinking
Two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Washington's image in Europe, Canada and much of the Islamic world remains broadly negative, according to the latest in a series of surveys of public opinion in 16 countries sponsored by the Pew Global Attitudes Project (PGAP).
While some of the hostility, particularly in Muslim countries immediately after the 2003 invasion, has abated somewhat, the overall opinion of the U.S. public voiced by the citizens of Washington's traditional allies and in the Islamic world has continued to fall over the past two years, according to the survey and accompanying analysis.
On specific issues relating to Iraq and Bush's ''war on terrorism,'' strong pluralities or majorities in all 16 countries except India and the U.S. said that the world was more dangerous without former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Out of the 14 countries where the question was asked, only in Poland did a plurality of respondents say that Bush's re-election inclined to them think of the U.S. more favorably. Twenty-one percent of Polish respondents said they thought better of the U.S. as a result of Bush's re-election; 18 percent said it made them think of the U.S. More negatively.
In all other countries -- Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Lebanon, Jordan, India -- pluralities or majorities said Bush's re-election made them feel worse about the U.S. by margins that ranged from three to one to as more than five to one (Turkey).
Only in India, was the margin less -- 35 percent of respondents there said it made them feel worse about the U.S.; 28 percent said it made them feel better.
Remarkably, 11 of the 16 countries, including Washington's traditional European allies, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Jordan, and Indonesia, all rated China more favorably than the U.S.
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