The scariest thing I see is that we have lost the HeartsAndMinds contest in the Islamic world.
I disagree. I could not have expected this administration to win the "HeartsandMind" Contest in the Islamic world. What worries me is how our reputation has slipped amongst our traditional European allies. According to a recent poll conducted by the Pew Charitable Trust, What the World Thinks in 2002 - How Global Publics View: Their Lives, Their Countries, The World, America people-press.org, 44% of Brits, 75% of French, 54% of Germans and 76% of Russians believe that American use of force in Iraq is explained by US desire to control Iraqi oil.
In the US image abroad poll, from 1999 to 2002, the percentage of people who said they take a favorable view of the US declined by the following percentage points: Germany 17, Britain 8, Italy 6, Turkey 22, Poland 7, etc.
Furthermore, the spread of U.S. ideas and customs is disliked by majorities in almost every country included in this survey. This sentiment is prevalent in friendly nations such as Canada (54%) and Britain (50%), and even more so in countries where America is broadly disliked, such as Argentina (73%) and Pakistan (81%). |
