Good Thursday morning Fellow Seekers, 

A few grim findings from the past five years of international polling by the Pew Global Attitudes Project:

• Between 2002 and 2007, the percentages of Turks who said they had a positive attitude of the United States dropped from 55 percent to nine. Yes, nine. This in a country that is often described as a major, vital U.S. ally.
• In Germany, positive views of the U.S. fell over the same five years from 78 percent to 30.
• The lowest European country on this score is now Spain. In 2007, 20 percent of Spaniards favored the U.S.
• Europeans rate the U.S. as a threat to world peace on a level about equal to North Korea and Iran.
• Pew asks people whether they believe the United States promotes democracy in the world wherever it can, or only when it is in the U.S. interest. In 47 of the 47 countries surveyed, the second answer was the most common.

From slipping to plummeting to entrenched

Anti American attitudes are nothing new, nor is the discovery that view of America have been souring steadily over the Iraq war. In a second presentation of the day Wednesday at the Humphrey Institute, Andy Kohut of Pew last night simply brought the latest evidence that the slump still hasn’t hit bottom.

In 2002, post-9/11 but before Iraq, Kohut’s first Global Attitudes survey concluded that after a brief moment of global solidarity and sympathy for the U.S., our global images “slipping.” While 9/11 was still seen as tragic, it was also seen as a good thing to the degree it gave Americans an opportunity to know what it feels like to be vulnerable.

By the August 2003 follow-up survey, with the U.S. invasion of Iraq, his assessement switched from the word “slipping” to “plummeting.” (The positive view of America dropped from 55 percent to 15 in that one year in Indonesia, obviously pivoting over Iraq.)

There has never been an upturn, and his 2005 and 2006 assessment began using the word “entrenched” to describe anti-American attitudes.

There are substantial regional variations, Kohut said. Except in countries with big Muslim populations, views of America are fairly positive in Africa, and among some of the major U.S. trading partners such as South Korea and India.

In the Muslim world there are virtually no bright spots. He said U.S. support for Israel is the “800-pound gorilla” in that situation, while the Iraq situation is only the “750-pound gorilla.” It is widely perceived that the U.S. invaded Iraq for the oil. Large majorities believe that America seeks to rule the world.

But Kohut added that the smaller, weaker nations of the world are suspicious of all the bigger powers. Neither Russia nor China is popular or trusted.

In Europe, the key negative perceptions are that the U.S. is too unilateral and too quick to use force.

This might surprise you, but the unpopularity of the U.S. does not lead to much popularity for those who oppose America. Kohut said Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin is about as unpopular in the world as Pres. Bush. Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez is not a hero around Latin America, Kohut said, and Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is not admired in the Mideast.

Kohut predicted that the next U.S. president will get a bit of a honeymoon, as the world celebrates the end of the Bush era, but he or she “will have to work to increase the trust and reduce the suspicion of U.S. power.”