 International view of United States has deteriorated - survey
London, 2007/01/22, IRNA
Battered in the polls at home, President George W. Bush is also facing mounting disapproval of his policies abroad, according to a poll conducted by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The BBC World Service poll of 26,000 people in 25 countries showed just 29 percent now feel the United States exerts a mainly positive influence on the world, compared with 36 percent a year ago and 40 percent two years ago.
Forty-nine percent now believe it plays a mainly negative role internationally.
Even in the United States, the number who believe that overall the United States is a force for good in the world has dropped to 57 percent from 63 percent a year ago and 71 percent two years ago.
"According to world public opinion, these days the U.S. government hardly seems to be able to do anything right," said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, which conducted the survey with pollsters GlobeScan.
In Britain, America's strongest ally in the Iraq war, 57 percent see US influence as mainly negative, and 81 percent disapprove of U.S. actions in Iraq, the poll showed.
Among US citizens, 57 percent disapprove of how their government is handling the war in Iraq, while 54 percent disapprove of Bush's stance on global warming, the poll found.
Half disagree with the U.S. stance on Iran's nuclear program while 53 percent say the U.S. military presence in the Middle East provokes trouble rather than stabilizing matters.
US-Poll |
