RubySoho
Winston
Listen Up America: This Is What Europe Really Thinks Of You
June 10th 2008 03:40
Obama the clear favourite...in Europe at least.
Britain’s Daily Telegraph recently published the results of a massive survey it undertook in May this year. The research was undertaken at Telegraph.co.uk by YouGov plc and interviewed a total of 6,256 respondents from Britain (2,241), France (1,0005), Italy (1,004), Germany (1,005) and Russia (1,001)- Europe’s five wealthiest nations- asking their thoughts about America in general and John McCain and Barack Obama in particular.
Whilst the those of us here in ‘The Rest Of The World’ may not find the results all that remarkable, the survey is likely to surprise some Americans who are not willing to admit just how low worldwide opinion of their country has sunk during the Presidency of George Bush, with European attitudes to America becoming increasingly hostile to America as Bush’s leadership goes on…and on…and on. To give you a frame of reference for how America used to be viewed in the world, a global attitudes survey in 2000 found that 83% of Britons and 62% of French had a favourable attitude to America. Compare that with these these overall results of the latest survey. Brace yourselves, they are not pretty.
Firstly, the poll found a high level of anti-American feeling across all surveyed countries. In answer to the question “Do you think America is overall a force for good or force for evil in today’s world?” 43% replied, “force for evil”, 27% said “force for good” with 30% unsure. Russia showed the highest level of anti-America sentiment with a whopping 56% of respondents linking America with evil whilst Italy was the most pro-America country with 49% ranking America as good. Only 33% of British respondents thought America was a “force for good”. This probably has something to do with the incredible unpopularity of the Iraq War, which former PM Tony Blair staunchly supported against the wishes of his constituency.
Bush’s unpopularity in Europe is spreading to his fellow Republican Presidential hopeful it seems. In the second question interviewees were asked, “ If you had a vote and the two main candidates are Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama, which would you support?”
Overall 52% replied Obama, 15% gave the nod to McCain whilst 18% said neither with 18% unsure. Obama proved most popular in Italy with an emphatic 70% victory whilst McCain could only manage a high score of 15% also in Italy. The country least enamoured of Obama was Britain with 49% giving him their vote whilst McCain’s lowest score was a dismal 6% in Germany, narrowly edging out France where only 8% would put a number 1 next to McCain’s name on the ballot.
McCain fared slightly better in the final question “Irrespective of who you would support to be President, who do you think would be better equipped to lead the world economy out of it’s current difficulties, John McCain or Barack Obama?” Whilst Obama still came out on top with 42% overall, McCain managed 22%. Russia, which has traditionally favoured more conservative American leaders, was most supportive of McCain with 36% giving him the nod on economic issues compared to Obama at 29%.
However, all four remaining countries still felt Obama was the better choice with his highest score in Italy where 59% thought Obama was the man to perk up the economy compared to just 20% of Italians who thought McCain would do the better job.
When the results were printed on the Daily Telegraph's website (link below), it was predictably greeted with outrage animosity by many American readers who felt the need to announce on a European website that they did not care what Europeans thought of them. But with the rise of China and Russia on the world stage can America afford to take such an arrogant view? Is America's slide from the top already in motion?
In 2006, YouGov conducted a similar online poll in Britain, which was reported on in The New York Times[/LINK]:
A New Survey Suggests That Britons Take a Dim View of the U.S.
By ALAN COWELL
Published: July 3, 2006
LONDON, July 2 — Most Britons asked in a new poll say that the United States is doing a bad job in Iraq, is indifferent to what the rest of the world thinks of it and, among its social characteristics, is racially divided, dominated by big business and obsessed with money. The results are in Monday's Daily Telegraph.
The poll indicates that "there has probably never been a time when America was held in such low esteem on this side of the Atlantic," Anthony King, a professor of government at Essex University, wrote in an analysis of the results published in The Telegraph. The Telegraph provided a copy of the data and commentary in advance of its publication to The New York Times.
The "special relationship" that British leaders have long believed exists between their country and the United States "may still thrive in Downing Street and at Camp David, but it has obviously atrophied among the British public," Professor King wrote in a reference to Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush.
Online surveys of 1,962 adults were conducted by YouGov, a British polling organization, and weighted with demographic data to reflect a broad picture of the views of Britons. The margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points.
Those polled had more favorable attitudes toward Americans as individuals, with 70 percent of respondents saying they liked Americans "a lot" or "a little."
But more than two-thirds said their overall opinion of the United States had worsened in recent years. The survey was taken between June 26 and 28. Its results seemed to reflect trends emerging since early 2003, when Mr. Blair defied much of British public opinion by siding with Mr. Bush on Iraq.
The United States Embassy in London took issue with the poll's results, saying the world had become a safer place with the removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq.
The Daily Telegraph quoted an embassy spokesman as saying the United States had not successfully communicated America's "extraordinary dynamism," but also blaming the British news media for ignoring stories about the successes of the American society and its economy.
Among the respondents in the new poll, 77 percent did not see America as a "beacon of hope for the world" and, compared with similar categories in a 1975 Gallup survey, had markedly less confidence in "America's ability to deal wisely with present world problems."
Asked to rate President Bush as a leader, more than three-quarters described him as either "pretty poor" (34 percent) or "terrible" (43 percent). Seventy-two percent said his foreign policy, instead of being driven by a desire to build democracy, was merely a cover for American interests.
About two-thirds of respondents said they believed that American troops were doing "a bad job" in trying "to win hearts and minds" in Iraq, while 54 percent used the same term to describe the American effort to bring democracy to Iraq.
"From this side of the Atlantic, America appears to be a class divided and racially divided society and one that fails to offer its citizens anything approaching equality of opportunity," Mr. King wrote. "Nearly three-quarters of Britons, 72 percent, believe American society is essentially 'unequal.' "
Among other findings of the survey: 83 percent of respondents said the United States "doesn't care what the rest of the world think," 65 percent thought America "vulgar," 84 percent said Americans are "preoccupied with money" and 90 percent said the United States was "dominated by big business."
When the results of both surveys are taken into consideration, the implications are pretty clear. The Bush Presidency has severely damaged the perception of America in Europe and therefore, one could argue, in the rest of the world. Whilst the 2006 survey showed little sign of hope that America could improve its standing on the world stage, the 2008 survey indicates that, in Europe at least, the coming presidential elections and the rise of Barack Obama could do much to improve the situation. Whether this hope is misplaced remains to be seen. After all, he has yet to really prove himself (although his repeated disapproval of the Iraq War is a good sign). But what is clearly obvious is that for America to begin to repair its severely damaged reputation and regain the trust and respect of others a change really is in order. A McCain presidency would be viewed as an extension of the Bush presidency.
Now it is not up to Europe, or anyone else, to dictate how America votes in November. That decision lies with the Americans. Perhaps, what these surveys indicate more than anything else, is the approaching decline of a Superpower. It is going to become increasingly difficult for America to market itself as the keeper of democracy and the hope for the world when the rest of the world is no longer listening.
-Ruby
reference:
[LINK=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/2049446/Barack-Obama-beats-John-McCain-in-European-vote-US-election-2008.html]Barack Obama beats John McCain in European votes: US election 2008- Telegraph
(it is worth following this link and reading the comments).
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Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
When we do that, the world opinion of us will be far more accepting.
Electing Barack Obama will be a turning point, potentially bringing America back into the fold of civilized nations.
Comment by Louie
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Climate Red
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Please note, this comment does not apply to any American who sees this, if you read this post you automatically do not have your head in the clouds by definition
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Lester Caudill
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Thanks Louie, I do hope as many Americans see those statistics as possible- and take something away from them.
Hey Morgan, I just saw a video on youtube today whereby John McCain talked about meeting the President of Germany-
Vladimir Putin. I don't think Angela Merkel would have been too impressed to hear that the Russian leader had usurped her position. And I'm hoping its not a sign of things to come from McCain.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A! WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
*crushes beer can against forehead*
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Current Business News
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Germany, Russia, same place really . . . its when are the non-muslim bad-guys come from . . . McCain needs to study up on his James Bond and Indiana Jones for the slight differences between the two
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
As for Germany/Russia/Whatever....ob viously McCain has trouble distinguishing between them on a map because, like most Americans, he probably doesn't have one...sorry guys...that was just too easy.
Non-muslim bad guys..haha...didn't realise there were any left. I thought America saved us from them decades ago...
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Lester Caudill
But then I thought you need to go deeper into your survey, what was the respondents religion, and what was their party Affiliation?
And we as a nation don't care what the rest of the world thinks, and for myself I wish we would bring the troops home and cut all ties with the rest of the world as well.
And if America is such a bad place why do we have a big problem with illegal immigration, people are dying to get here for a better life.
Comment by Geoff Egan
Cinema XYZ
Noise Fanatic
Firstly, saying that this is the begining of the end of the role of the USA as the lone superpower is way to preemptive. No one comes close to the power that the USA has. Not economically, not culturally, and no-freaking-where near militarily. All this talk of rising China and a United Europe are amazing preemtive. At the end of the Cold War, the common belief was that Russia was screwed, America had spent all its money, and Japan was the real winner. One economic reccession later and noone is dreaming of saying that.
Secondly, there is no policy America could take on worse than isolationism. Last time they did that, it meant that Nazi Germany was able to unilaterally withdraw from the League of Nations and go about conquering Europe.
and Lester, no one is saying that the US is a bad place, and definately not a bad place to live. Just that we don't agree with the desicions being made in the front office.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
As I said in the article, the surveys represented a cross-demographic of European society- different nationalities, ages, socio-economic status. Lester, I think you are doing yourself a great disservice if you continue to ignore worldwide opinion on this issue. As Geoff has pointed out above, it is not America itself or the American people that Europe is unhappy with. It is the Bush administration and aggressive US foreign policy. I don't think you can overestimate just how unpopular Bush and this war are in Europe and much of the world.
We want to respect America again. But saying you don't care what we think and calling us jealous is perhaps not the best way to regain that respect.
Comment by RubySoho
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Seriously though, I do think that America is realising it can't just bully everyone into doing its will anymore. I think that is why, as desperate as the Bush administration is to bomb Iran, they know they will never get the support for that. The Coalition of the Willing is but a bad memory.
One of the moments of Bush's presidency that stands out most for me is when he addressed the UN shortly after he invaded Iraq and he was met a stony silence by the assembly. No applause, no smiles. The tension was palpable. And of course, he just gave a smug, "i don't care what you think of me" smile.
Of course.
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
As for the American military, do you think they have the resources to engage in any real war without resorting to nuclear weapons? Probably not, and therein lies the danger. America is close to becoming a cornered bully militarily - but one with alot of nukes.
I don't think it is too far out to say America is a car on the edge of a cliff, and who we give the keys to will make the difference if we go over or turn around in time.
As for culture, that's kind of a loaded question, but I will say that America's best export is Hollywood. We can damn sure make movies.
Comment by Anonymous