Why didn't you old the sections where large populations in important countries show a lot of support, and the difference between liking Obama and liking the tough things the US does is explained? Cherrypicking is no way to prove anything.
Of course Iraq and Afghanistan are not popular worldwide, nor is our ongoing failure to reign in Israel for a change. Clinton took several yeas to pull off the Oslo Accords.
overall the president's approval ratings abroad were "off the charts," an astonishing accomplishment for a politician, former Sen. John Danforth , R- Mo. , the co-chair of the Pew Global Attitudes Survey , told reporters.
However, he said: "The world likes the idea of Obama more than the reality."
"Popularity for the idea of Obama does not translate into support for anything that is really difficult," Danforth said, referring to foreign views of the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan .
"There is no indication that the world populations like the hard things, and so the harder the issue and the more concrete the problem, and the more concrete the actions, the less support they receive," he said.
The poll also found, however, that in 16 of the 22 countries surveyed, people expressed at least some confidence in Obama to do the right thing in world affairs. The president's approval ratings were high in Western Europe , particularly in France and Britain , where more than 84 percent of those polled said they had confidence in Obama. |
