Europeans reject US leadership but share same fears and differ in response

[tocqueville]

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-811331@51-801093,0.html

according to a survey made by the institutes German Marshall Fund and Compagnia di San Paolo, 57% of Europeans (compared to 31% 2002) that the US leadership "is not desirable" in international affairs.

T R A N S AT L A N T I C T R E N D S 2 0 0 6
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Although U.S. and European policymakers report
that official relations have improved in the past year,
most observers argue that the image of the United States
and President Bush among the European publics has not
improved since their strong opposition to the war in Iraq
in 2003.4 New German Chancellor Angela Merkel changed
the tenor of U.S.-German relations, but her warm visits to
Washington and welcome of President Bush to Germany were
accompanied by persistent concerns about the alleged CIA
rendition of a German citizen and the treatment of prisoners
in Guantanamo Bay. How has public opinion responded to
change at the official level? Have negative attitudes in Europe
toward President Bush, as some warned, led to negative
views of the United States in general? Is the decline in views
of the United States reflected in European views of NATO

PERSISTENT DECLINE IN VIEWS OF THE UNITED
STATES SINCE 2002

The proportions of Europeans who view U.S. leadership in
world affairs as desirable has reversed since 2002, from 64%
positive to 37% this year, and from 31% negative to 57%.
Among European countries, the greatest decline was in
Germany, from 68% positive in 2002 to 43% in 2006. Since
2004, this reversal has remained virtually unchanged. Only
three European countries currently view U.S. leadership
more positively than negatively: the Netherlands (51% to
44%), Romania (47% to 35%), and the United Kingdom
(48% to 45%). Similarly, when asked to evaluate their
feelings of warmth toward the United States on a 100-point
thermometer scale, Europeans ratings declined from 64
degrees in 2002 to 51 in 2006.

http://www.transatlantictrends.org/doc/2006_TT_Key%20Findings%20FINAL.pdf

TRANSATLANTIC PULSE: EUROPEANS COOL TO U.S.

Transatlantic Trends is designed to gauge the pulse of U.S.–European relations. For the first time since the survey began in 2002, Europeans’ (EU9) warmth of feeling toward the U.S., on a 100-point “thermometer,” is a lukewarm 51 degrees. Forty-six percent of Americans feel the transatlantic relationship has gotten worse in the last year, and the highest percentage of Europeans (41%) feel it has stayed the same. A majority of Europeans (55%, EU9) support a more independent approach to security and diplomatic affairs between the U.S. and the European Union (compared to 50% in 2004). The largest percentage of Americans wants closer relations, but this has dropped from 60% in 2004 to 45%.

IRAN THREATENING, DIVERGENCE ON RESPONSE

Seventy-nine percent of Americans and 84% of Europeans (EU9) agree that efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons should continue, with only 15% of Americans and 5% of Europeans who see military action as the best option. If non-military options fail, 53% of Americans who support efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons would support military action, compared with 45% of Europeans (EU9). Fifty-four percent of French respondents, though, would support military action if non-military options fail. Democrats and Republicans agree that efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons should continue but disagree should non-military options fail — just 41% of Democrats but 70% of Republicans would support military action under these circumstances.

SUPPORT FOR EU ENLARGEMENT

Sixty-three percent of Europeans (EU9) agree that further enlargement of the European Union will help it play a more important role in world affairs, and 62% agree that further enlargement will promote peace and democracy along its borders. Sixty-five percent of Europeans (EU9) support the creation of a European Union foreign minister, one of the key reforms put forth in the proposed constitutional treaty.

“The overall picture of the European public opinion emerging from this year’s survey seems to contradict the current view of a growing skepticism, among Europe’s citizens, about further EU integration,” said Piero Gastaldo, Secretary General of the Compagnia di San Paolo. “The fact that a large majority of the interviewed are in favor of creating an EU foreign minister position is particularly striking — it is both a reason for optimism and a serious challenge for the European and national institutions and for those independent subjects, like foundations, that are committed to promote the involvement of citizens in the integration process and the development of an actual European identity.”

BROAD TRANSATLANTIC AGREEMENT ON CIVIL LIBERTIES COMPROMISES

Majorities of Americans and Europeans oppose greater governmental authority to monitor citizens’ telephone calls (59% for both continents) but support greater authority to monitor communications on the Internet (54% for both) and install surveillance cameras in public places (78% Europe, 71% U.S.). The two sides disagree about greater authority to monitor banking transactions (50% of Europeans support, 58% of Americans oppose). Majorities of Democrats oppose greater government authority to monitor telephone calls, communications on the Internet, and citizens’ banking transactions, all of which are supported by a majority of Republicans

http://www.transatlantictrends.org/showdoc.cfm?id=104
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my comment :

in other words Europeans and Americans are drifting away and it's not Clinton's fault.