Data collected from almost 90 thousand interviews in at least 44 nations over the past several years, as part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, paints a vivid picture of how world wide attitudes towards the United States have plummeted under the leadership of George W. Bush. But in order to appreciate the full magnitude of this decline, one needs to look at comparisons of sequential reports.
Decline of world wide opinions towards the United States from 1999/2000 to 2002 This article by the Pew Research Center, “What the World Thinks in 2002”, compares attitudes towards the United States in 2002 with before Bush took office (1999/2000). The article begins:
Despite an initial outpouring of public sympathy for America following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, discontent with the United States has grown around the world over the past two years. Images of the U.S. have been tarnished in all types of nations: among longtime NATO allies, in developing countries, in Eastern Europe and, most dramatically, in Muslim societies…..
U.S. image problems are not confined to Muslim countries. The worldwide polling conducted throughout the summer and fall finds few people, even in friendly nations, expressing a very favorable opinion of America, and sizable minorities in Western Europe and Canada having an unfavorable view. Many people around the world, especially in Europe and the Middle East/Conflict Area, believe the U.S. does not take into account the interests of their country when making international policies. Majorities in most countries also see U.S. policies as contributing to the growing gap between rich and poor nations and believe the United States does not do the right amount to solve global problems.
To avoid duplication later in this post, I list here only those countries where
“favorable” opinions towards the U.S. are compared for 1999/2000 versus 2002, but for which there is no follow-up in 2005:
Favorable opinion towards U.S., 1999/2000 versus 2002Country..............1999/2000...............2002............Net changeArgentina...............50%.....................34%.............(-16)
Slovak Republic.......74%.....................60%.............(-14)
Kenya...................94%.....................80%.............(-14)
Bolivia....................66%.....................57%.............(-9)
Honduras................87%.....................80%.............(-7)
Peru.......................74%.....................67%.............(-7)
Venezuela...............89%.....................82%.............(-7)
Italy......................76%.....................70%.............(-6)
Japan....................77%.....................72%.............(-5)
Czech Republic........76%.....................71%.............(-5)
South Korea............58%.....................53%.............(-5)
Mexico..................68%.....................64%.............(-4)
Brazil.....................56%.....................52%.............(-4)
Bulgaria................76%.....................72%.............(-4)
Guatemala.............76%.....................82%.............(+6)
Ukraine.................70%.....................80%.............(+10)
Uzbekistan............56%.....................85%.............(+29)
Nigeria.................46%.....................77%.............(+31)
Ok, that doesn’t look too bad. Declining opinion towards the United States in only 14 of 18 countries, and most of the percentage declines aren’t too great.
But this comparison paints a misleadingly rosy picture of world wide opinion towards the U.S. on two accounts. First, this comparison includes no Middle Eastern Muslim countries, because pre-2001 data was not available for them. Opinions towards the United States in those countries is atrocious – for example, only 6% of Egyptians hold a favorable opinion of the United States.
Secondly, the above comparison is misleadingly optimistic because most of the decline in world opinion towards the United States during the Bush Presidency took place after 2002.
This article gives some of the reasons for declining opinions of the United States especially after the “War on Terror” picked up steam with the Iraq invasion of 2003:
Among the most surprising results: A majority of British and South Koreans don't think American democracy remains a model for other countries. The Abu Ghraib prison scandal, the open-ended detentions at Guantanamo Bay, the erosion of civil liberties - all have contributed to a sense that America's democratic values have have been compromised during the war on terror.
Decline of world wide opinions towards the United States from 2002 to 2005 A
follow-up Pew research study in the summer of 2005 showed that after 2002 world opinions towards the United States declined substantially more than during the period from 1999 to 2002. Here are the results from those countries where comparisons are given for 1999/2000 versus 2005:
Favorable opinion towards U.S., 2002 versus 2005Country..............1999/2000...............2005............Net changeMorocco.................77%.....................27%.............(-50)
Indonesia...............75%.....................38%.............(-37)
Germany.................78%.....................41%.............(-37)
Turkey...................52%.....................23%.............(-29)
Britain....................83%.....................55%.............(-28)
France...................62%.....................43%.............(-19)
Poland...................79% (in 02).............62%.............(-17)
Canada..................71%.....................59%.............(-12)
Spain....................50%.....................41%.............(-9)
Pakistan................23%.....................23%.............(-0)
Russia..................37%.....................52%.............(+15)
What explains the huge drop in world opinion towards the U.S.?In case the reason for the declining world opinion towards the U.S. isn’t obvious, the above noted article goes on to explain it:
… goodwill generated by U.S. tsunami relief has been largely offset by the negative reactions to Bush's re-election and the continuing war in Iraq. Roughly three-quarters of the publics in Germany (77%), Canada (75%) and France (74%) say Bush's re-election has made them feel less favorable toward the U.S. And particularly in Western Europe, most of those who express an unfavorable view of the U.S. mostly blame Bush, rather than a more general problem with America.
Specifically, among 14 countries surveyed on this question (Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, India, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon), those who said that the election of Bush made them feel more favorable towards the U.S. ranged from 9% in Lebanon to a whopping 28% in India, whereas those who said that the election of Bush made them feel less favorable towards the U.S. was above 30% in every country except Poland (18%), ranging up to 77% in Germany. The “less favorable” group exceeded the “more favorable” group by more than two to one in every country except Poland – even in Russia, which was one of the few (perhaps the only) countries whose opinions of the U.S. improved since Bush took office.