From the
Guardian:
George Bush's six years in office have so damaged the image of the US that people worldwide see Washington as a bigger threat to world peace than Tehran, according to a global poll.
The Washington-based Pew Research Centre, in a poll of 17,000 people in 15 countries between March and May, found more people concerned about the US presence in Iraq than about Iran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions.
Way hey! We're Number One! We're more hated and distrusted than Iran! Yay!
Ooops. Hold on a minute, that can't be right, can it? Can 17,000 people worldwide really see the Stars and Stripes as bigger threat to global peace and security than nuke-weilding mullahs? Well, yes they can.
The survey, carried out annually, shows a continued decline in support for the US since 1999. The US image for most of the 20th century has been relatively positive, being regularly identified with democracy, human rights and openness in spite of criticism from the left, which reached a height during the Vietnam war, and a residual suspicion in the Muslim world.
But even in the UK, Washington's closest ally, favourable ratings have slumped from 83% in 1999 to 56% this year. The pattern is similar in France, down from 62% to 39%, Germany 78% to 37%, and Spain 50% to 23%.
In Muslim countries with which the US has traditionally enjoyed a good relationship, such as Turkey - a member of Nato - and Indonesia, there have also been slumps. In Indonesia favourable ratings for the US have dropped from 75% to 30%, and in Turkey from 52% to 12%.
"It's all [because of] Iraq," Carroll Doherty, associate director of the Pew Centre, said. He added that it was a sign of how "dangerous Iraq is to the US image" that, in spite of common cause between the US and Europeans on Iran, there had been no improvement in the American position in Europe.
The devaluing of the American brand is going to bite Americans at home sooner rather than later. Already European economies are picking up as people around the world make an effort to find products and suppliers who aren't American. I've been told several contracts I'd be good for in the Middle East are "European only" lately, translated to "no Americans". When American brands are an embarrassment to the fashion conscious, watch out in the heartland for your jobs and pensions.
A lot of people at YearlyKos complained that I didn't have a British accent even after living here for 16 years. Well, yeah, I don't and it's too late to get one now. But when I read surveys like this one, I wonder whether I've missed a trick that would help me survive the coming storms. At least I've got British citizenship in parallel with my US citizenship . . .