As reported reported today by Reuters, America tops the National Brand Index (NBI) survey results as the #1 respected country in the world.
"What's really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States for 2009," said Simon Anholt, the founder of NBI, which measured the global image of 50 countries each year.
I don't 'diary' much, but every now and then I pop in here and point out some tidbit that really needs to be shown to the world and frankly, no outlet does that better than DKOS.
This is something that I think everyone here should read and with enough recommendatoins will be seen by those in the media who look here daily for some of their stories.
This is a big story. It shows quite clearly that the election and actions of President Obama has done exactly as promised, to raise the reputation of America in the world.
"There is no other explanation," Anholt said in an interview, referring to the impact of Obama.
I'm curious how the Fox News, Glenn Beck crowd will spin this. More likely they will ignore it.
Another interesting tidbit that seems relevent given the recent olympic bid by Chicago. According to the poll,
"It is the first time China's profile has risen," said Anholt, who has been doing the annual poll since 2005.
"Since the Olympics its score for tourism and its people has risen and that has helped to stem its decline," Anholt explained.
Is this why the far right cheered at Chicago's loss, because they fear further improvement under their opponents leadership? I suspect so.
Anyway, I know it's not a 'diary' per se, but I thought you'd all love to hear it. I hope with your recommendations this story is picked up on the news today/tomorrow.
The Reuters article is here:
http://news.yahoo.com/...