Obamas image remains positive worldwide
The world still prefers Obama more than Bush, says a Pew poll. According to the Pew Research Center, the public has a relatively high amount of…
Obama’s approval ratings have suffered at home. But the world stills prefers him to Bush. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The world still prefers Obama more than Bush, says a Pew poll.
According to the Pew Research Center, the public has a relatively high amount of confidence in Obama’s leadership regarding world affairs, especially when compared to his predecessor, George W. Bush.
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And, while Obama no longer has the same high levels of popularity that he enjoyed immediately after his election in 2008, there has been very little change in his appeal over the past year.
The world still prefers Obama to Bush
Using data from the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, which measures public opinion in various countries, Global Post created this chart to show the contrast:
The chart that proves that the world still prefers Obama to Bush. (Simran Khosla/Pew Research)
The Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project also reported that the biggest declines in his ratings since last year are found in two nations where the U.S. has listened to the private phone conversations of national leaders:
- Germany (from 88% confident in 2013 to 71% confident now)
- And Brazil (from 69% confident in 2013, 52% confident now)
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff criticized Washington last year over reports that U.S. agencies snooped on her personal conversations, and she cancelled a state visit to Washington in October.
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Obamas favorability is also down considerably in Russia, reflecting recent tensions over the crisis in Ukraine. Only 14% of Russians currently express confidence in the U.S. president, down from an already low 29% in 2013.
The U.S. president remains popular in much of the world, except for the Middle East, where residents of every nation surveyed except Israel gave Obama an approval rating of 35 percent or below. Pakistani citizens favorability of Obama was at seven percent, the lowest among surveyed countries.
