Pew: Obama Has Improved U.S. Image Abroad "Markedly"
Six months into his presidency, Pres. Obama is hitting his first bumps. With polls showing an uphill climb on healthcare reform and his overall approval ratings lower than those of George W. Bush at the same point in his presidency, Obama is facing his first struggles political challenges in pushing his policies on the Hill.
To the rest of the world, however, Obama -- and the U.S. -- could hardly be faring better.
That's the verdict of the Pew Research Center's latest Global Attitudes Survey, which measures public opinion on a raft of issues in 24 countries and the Palestinian territories. The study's main finding is that confidence in Pres. Obama has improved the U.S. image "markedly in most parts of the world."
Among the survey's findings:
* The most notable increase in views of the U.S. occurred in Indonesia, where roughly eight of 10 respondents said they were aware that Obama lived there as a child. Indonesia's favorable ratings of the U.S. "nearly doubled" in the past year, to 63% in '09 from 37% in '08.
* In most of the countries surveyed, majorities or pluralities said that Obama's election "led them to have a more favorable view" of the U.S. Four years ago, there was no country in which a majority or plurality said as much of Bush's re-election.
* Among most of the majority-Muslim countries surveyed, views of the U.S. have improved. But America's favorability ratings among Muslims remain below 50% in all but two countries polled (Indonesia and Nigeria).
* Israel stands out as the only country where public confidence is lower for Obama than it was for Bush (56% for Obama in '09 vs. 57% for Bush in '07).
In general, the poll finds, positive views of the U.S. "are being driven much more by personal confidence in Obama than by opinions about his specific policies."
(FELICIA SONMEZ)