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Washington Post - March 17, 2004 Opinion of U.S. Abroad Is Falling, Survey Finds By Dana Milbank A year after the invasion of Iraq, anti-American views have hardened in Europe and in Muslim countries, where lopsided majorities oppose President Bush and are suspicious of U.S. motives, according to a new nine-country opinion poll. The survey, the largest of its kind, found slipping support for the U.S. war on terrorism in Europe and negative views of the United States in all foreign countries polled except Britain. Big majorities said that the United States does not consider other countries' interests and that Europe should develop more diplomatic and military independence. Majorities in all foreign countries said the war in Iraq hurt or had no effect on the war on terrorism, and only in the United States did a majority believe that the ouster of Saddam Hussein will make the Middle East more democratic. The nonpartisan Pew Research Center, which conducted the survey, said the image of the United States in the world has never polled lower. "This poll says to me the discontent with America is a long-term problem that U.S. leaders have to confront," said poll director Andrew Kohut. "We've never seen ratings as low as this for America." The Pew poll is three years old, and Kohut has been conducting similar surveys in Europe for two decades. The findings add fuel to an argument over the United States' standing in the world sparked by last week's bombings in Madrid and the subsequent election of a new Spanish government that is reconsidering that country's presence in Iraq. The issue has gained prominence in the presidential campaign since Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said last week that many foreign leaders hope he defeats Bush. Bush urged allies yesterday to remain devoted to the fight against terrorism despite the defeat of a Spanish government partly because of its support of U.S. policy. Terrorists will "never shake the will of the United States," he said in an Oval Office meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. Bush said, "It's essential that the free world remain strong and resolute and determined." The Pew poll, conducted before the Madrid bombings, showed that Americans are increasingly inclined to agree with Cheney's criticism of the United Nations. But the poll also broadly supported Kerry's charge that foreign opinion -- if not foreign leadership -- is decidedly anti-Bush. Fifty-five percent of Americans had a favorable view of the United Nations, down from 77 percent in 2001. Public support for the world body was higher in Britain, France, Germany and Russia and lower in the Muslim countries of Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan and Morocco. At the same time, views of Bush were strikingly low in Europe and the Muslim countries. Only 14 percent of Germans, 15 percent of the French, 28 percent of Russians and 7 percent of Pakistanis viewed Bush favorably. Britons, 39 percent of whom viewed Bush favorably, had the most enthusiastic view among foreigners. The opinions represented a dramatic reversal from 1991, when 75 percent of Germans and 72 percent of Russians had a favorable view of President George H.W. Bush, the current president's father. Views of the United States were somewhat higher, although Britain was the only country where a majority had a favorable impression. In 2002, Russia, Germany and France had majorities supportive of the United States. Americans themselves continued to be viewed favorably by Britain, France, Germany and Russia but not the Muslim countries. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64388-2004Mar16.html Chicago Tribune - March 17, 2004 Poll shows surge in anti-U.S. views EUROPE, MUSLIM NATIONS -- A year after the Iraq war, anti-American views have hardened in Europe and in Muslim countries, where huge majorities oppose President Bush and are suspicious of U.S. motives, according to a nine-nation opinion poll. The Christian Science Monitor - March 17, 2004 The world's view of US By Howard LaFranchi WASHINGTON - A new survey of global attitudes finds the world more in tune with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the new leader of Spain, than with George W. Bush: Across Europe and in key Muslim countries allied with the US, publics continue to hold negative views of the US, its handling of its leadership position in the world, and the war in Iraq. Just as Mr. Zapatero causes waves in transatlantic relations - by calling the war in Iraq an "error" and insisting Spain will alter its recent close relations with the US to emphasize closer ties with the rest of Europe - the new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press promises to feed new debate about America's relations with the world. "The divide between the US and Europe is only getting wider," says Carroll Doherty, editor of the Pew Research Center. "It's beyond a question of America's image, it's now to the point where people want action based on their opposition to the US." On the anniversary of the war in Iraq, world opinion of the US and its policies is in many countries worse than its already low levels of a year ago. Opinion of the US in France and Germany is at least as negative as at the war's conclusion, the survey finds. More marked is the plummet registered in British views. Last year 61 percent of Britons supported joining the US in the war in Iraq - today 43 percent support the war. The result is that even Britons want a foreign policy that is independent of the US. "Across Europe, we found people supporting the emergence of a European Union that can stand up and be an equal power to the US," says Mr. Doherty. At a time when the US continues to wrangle with how to reach Muslim audiences and improve its image with them, the survey offers a sobering picture. Support for Osama bin Laden remains strong in countries ranging from Jordan to Pakistan - where the Al Qaeda leader is viewed favorably by 65 percent of the population. Doherty says a "glimmer of hope" can be seen in the fact that the percentage of people "very unfavorable" to the US has fallen in all the Muslim countries surveyed since last year. In Turkey for example, it fell from 68 percent to 45 percent. But he says antagonism to the US, and the desire for leaders that stand up to the US, remains strong. That explains the attraction of Mr. bin Laden. He says, "It's not that people say they support what bin Laden did on Sept. 11, but for people who oppose US policy, he is seen as someone who stands up to America."http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0317/p04s01-usfp.html New York Times - March 17, 2004 Poll Finds Hostility Hardening By SUSAN SACHS During the first year of the United States occupation of Iraq, antagonism toward American foreign policy in some European and Muslim countries has hardened, with public opinion overseas swinging sharply in favor of charting a course independent of Washington, a new poll has found. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press conducted the survey before the terrorist attack last week in Madrid and the subsequent revolt by Spanish voters against the political party that had embraced American policy toward Iraq. But the survey found that a majority of people interviewed in France and Germany, two other traditional American allies, already believed that the Iraq war had undermined the struggle against terrorists and doubted the Bush administration's sincerity in trying to combat terror. "The wounds have not healed among the allied publics since the end of the war and, in fact, things are a little worse," said Andrew Kohut, the director of the Pew Center. "And there are trends that speak to a more long-term and continuing disconnect between the old allies." The poll was conducted in Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and the United States. In some predominantly Muslim countries, where negative attitudes toward American policy have prevailed for years, disapproval of the United States persisted over the past year, although at a less intense level that Mr. Kohut described as anger rather than hatred. Still, the survey found, people in Jordan, Pakistan and Morocco tended to view other outsiders with almost the same degree of ill will and distrust as they did the United States. Opinions about the European Union and the United Nations were generally unfavorable or ambivalent at best, a sharp contrast to opinion in Europe and Russia where attitudes toward those institutions were positive. A clear majority of people polled in the three countries also said that the suicide bombings against Americans and other Westerners in Iraq were justified. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/17/international/17PEW.html Poll: Muslim countries, Europe question U.S. motives By Susan Page WASHINGTON — Resentment and opposition toward the United States have intensified in Europe and the Muslim world in the year since the war in Iraq began, a survey taken in nine countries finds. There is a sharp and growing disconnect between the views of Americans and people who live in other countries, the poll shows. The poll sponsored by the non-partisan Pew Global Attitudes Project, which studies public opinion worldwide, shows the United States increasingly isolated in its battle against terrorism. A growing percentage of Europeans want to forge foreign policy and security arrangements that are independent of their trans-Atlantic ally, and most surveyed in Muslim nations view the war in Iraq as a U.S. effort to control Middle East oil and dominate the world. The repercussions of world opinion toward the war in Iraq were clear in Spanish elections Sunday (3/14/4) that ousted a U.S. ally. Spain's next prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, pledged to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq and strengthen ties with European capitals. The election took place three days after bombings killed 201 people in Madrid. But Andrew Kohut, director of the survey project, says the bombings also might soften the judgment of many Europeans that the United States was overreacting to the threat of terrorism. The survey from Feb. 19 to March 3 finds: Time hasn't healed divisions over the war in Iraq. The overwhelming opposition in France and Germany has increased since a survey in May. In Britain, where last year most people backed the war, more are now opposed to the war than support it. U.S. motives in the war on terrorism are doubted. Majorities in six countries — France, Germany, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan and Morocco — and a plurality in Russia say it is not a sincere effort to reduce terrorism. In those countries, most say the war is being waged to control Middle Eastern oil. The effectiveness of the Iraq war in combating terrorism is disputed. Only in the USA do most people think it has helped the war on terrorism. In the other eight nations, by double-digit margins, people say the war in Iraq has hurt the effort against terrorism. Solid majorities in every country but the USA hold an unfavorable opinion of President Bush. In Morocco, Jordan and Pakistan, his unfavorable ratings are higher than Osama bin Laden's. Majorities in Great Britain, France, Germany and Turkey — all U.S. allies in NATO — and in Russia say Western Europe should take a more independent approach to security and diplomatic affairs. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-03-16-international-poll_x.htm |