Though large majorities globally expressed confidence that President Obama "will do the right thing in foreign affairs," most people around the world continue to view US foreign policy negatively, according to a recent survey of people in 19 nations by WorldPublicOpinion.org.
According to the survey, majorities in 13 of those 19 countries said they "have confidence in President Obama to do the right thing in international affairs." Overall 61 percent of those responding to the survey said "they have some or a lot of confidence." People in Britain, China, Germany and France overwhelmingly shared this view of President Obama, while most people in the Muslim-majority countries included in the poll, such as Egypt, Palestine, Iraq and Pakistan, did not.
Even with a generally positive image for the US president globally, most people hold a negative view of US policies on key issues, the same survey found. Majorities in 17 of the countries polled agreed that the US fails to abide by international law. And in 11 of the countries, most people consider US policy on climate change to fall short of expectations.
Only about 25 percent of those surveyed agreed that the US treats their own country fairly, while about two-thirds agreed with the statement that the US "abuses its greater power to make us do what the US wants." Only majorities in Germany, Kenya and Nigeria said the US is generally fair to them.
Almost eight in 10 people view the US as willing to use military force to "gain advantages."
The people surveyed split nearly down the middle on the question of the United States' respect for human rights, with 51 percent agreeing that it does, the survey showed.
Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org said, "Most people around the world seem to have a positive view of the young new captain at the helm of the American ship of state, though many people see this huge ship as still carrying forward domineering policies."
Many negative views of the US revealed by the survey conducted this past spring over a two month period – before President Obama's speech in Cairo, Egypt – are unchanged from those found in a similar survey conducted in 2008, the organization indicated.
