Public Diplomacy by the Numbers

Reports from multi-national opinion surveys on U.S. standing and related issues, 2010 -

Gallup: U.S.-Global Leadership Project. U.S. Leadership Earning Lower Marks Worldwide. Released 13 March 2013

The image of U.S. leadership worldwide was weaker during President Barack Obama's fourth year in office than at any point during his first administration. Median approval of U.S. leadership across 130 countries stood at 41 percent in 2012, down measurably from 49 percent approval in Obama's first year. Despite these poorer scores, approval ratings for the most part remain stronger than they were at the end of the last Bush administration.

This shift suggests that the president and the new secretary of state may not find global audiences as receptive to the U.S. agenda as they have in the past. In fact, they may even find even once-warm audiences increasingly critical. The image of U.S. leadership continued to be the strongest worldwide in Africa in 2012, bolstered by strong majority approval in sub-Saharan Africa. However, this strong support in the subcontinent, which first showed signs of weakening in 2011, waned more in 2012.

U.S. leadership remains far less popular in North Africa, except in Libya, where U.S. support for the revolution may have generated an almost unprecedented level of goodwill toward America. A majority of Libyans (54%) surveyed before the attack in Benghazi approved of U.S. leadership in 2012. In Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt, no more than one-third approved and ratings remained mostly flat. Algerian approval of U.S. leadership is down slightly since 2011, dropping from 37 percent to 30 percent.

The free fall in U.S. approval in the Americas that began after Obama's first year in office ended in his fourth year. Median approval was stagnant at 40 percent between 2011 and 2012, but the U.S. image remains better positioned now than before the president began his first term.

Median approval of U.S. leadership in Europe has slipped 11 points since Obama's first year in office but was still twice as high in 2012 as it was during the last years of the Bush administration. Half of the loss took place in the last year alone, suggesting the U.S. was likely shouldering some of the blame for the ongoing financial crisis in Europe. A median of 36% approved of U.S. leadership last year, down from 42 percent in 2011.

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Results are based on face-to-face and telephone interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted throughout 2011 in 136 countries and 2012 in 130 countries.Measures based on aggregates of multiple surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012 are noted in the report. For results based on the total samples, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the margin of sampling error ranges from ±1.7 percentage points to ±4.8 percentage points....

Pew Global Attitudes Project: Global Opinion of Obama Slips, International Policies Faulted. Released 13 June 2012

Global approval of President Barack Obama’s policies has declined significantly since he first took office, while overall confidence in him and attitudes toward the U.S. have slipped modestly as a consequence.
Europeans and Japanese remain largely confident in Obama, albeit somewhat less so than in 2009, while Muslim publics remain largely critical. A similar pattern characterizes overall ratings for the U.S. – in the EU and Japan, views are still positive, but the U.S. remains unpopular in nations such as Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, support for Obama has waned significantly in China. Since 2009, confidence in the American president has declined by 24 percentage points and approval of his policies has fallen 30 points. Mexicans have also soured on his policies, and many fewer express confidence in him today.
The Obama era has coincided with major changes in international perceptions of American power – especially U.S. economic power. The global financial crisis and the steady rise of China have led many to declare China the world’s economic leader, and this trend is especially strong among some of America’s major European allies. Today, solid majorities in Germany (62%), Britain (58%), France (57%) and Spain (57%) name China as the world’s top economic power.

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Majorities or pluralities in 12 countries express a favorable opinion of the United States, while the prevailing view is negative in only five nations. In three countries views are closely divided.

Attitudes toward the U.S. are generally more positive today than in 2008, the final year of the George W. Bush administration. The biggest improvements in America’s image have occurred among Europeans – in France, Spain, and Germany, the percentage of people with a positive view of the U.S. is at least 20 percentage points higher than in 2008.

However, some of the initial surge in pro-American sentiments that followed Obama’s election have waned in Western Europe, especially in Germany where 64% had a favorable opinion of the U.S. in 2009, compared with 52% today.

...

Results for the survey are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Survey results are based on national samples except in China.

The 2011 Arab Public Opinion Poll: Favorable views of the U.S. increase, but Turkey viewed as the big winner of the Arab Spring. Released 21 November 2011

While a majority of Arabs polled continue to express unfavorable views of the United States (59%) the number of those who have favorable views of the US has increased from 10% in 2010 to 26% in 2011. This improvement could be related to the perception of the American handling of the Arab Spring, as 24% of those polled identified the US as one of the two countries they believe played the most constructive role in the Arab Spring.

A majority of Arabs polled (52%) remain discouraged by the Obama administration policy in the Middle East, though this is down from 65% in 2010 and up from only 15% in 2009. A plurality of those polled (43%) have negative views of President Obama while 34% have positive views. This constitutes an improvement from 2010 for Obama, but a decline from 2009.

Turkey is the biggest winner of the Arab Spring. In the five countries polled, Turkey is seen to have played the "most constructive" role in the Arab events. Its prime minister, Recep Erdogan, is the most admired among world leaders, and those who envision a new president for Egypt want the new president to look most like Erdogan. Egyptians want their country to look more like Turkey than any of the other Muslim, Arab and other choices provided.

Iran suffered mixed results. More people in 2011 identify Iran as one of the two biggest threats they face than ever before (18%), and, in contrast with 2010, a plurality (35%) of those polled now believe that if Iran acquires weapons of mass destruction it would be negative for the Middle East. On the other hand, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, remains relatively popular, and most (64%) Arabs still feel that Iran has the right to its nuclear program and should not be pressured by the international community to halt it.

A majority of those polled (55%) are more optimistic about the future of the Arab world in light of the Arab Spring, 16% are pessimistic and 23% feel no change. A majority feel that the Arab Spring is mostly about "ordinary people seeking dignity, freedom and a better life," while 19% believe it is about foreign powers trying to stir trouble in the region and 16% feel it is about opposition parties or sects seeking to control governments.

A majority of Arabs polled (675) continue to say that they're prepared for peace with Israel based on a two state solution along the 1967 borders. At the same time, a majority (53%) say that such a solution will never happen. Yet a majority (54%) also believes that if the two state solution is no longer on the table, this will lead to a state of intense conflict for years to come.

The 2011 Arab Public Opinion Poll the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings Institution, in conjunction with Zogby International. This year’s poll surveyed 3,000 people in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates in October 2011, assessing attitudes toward the United States and the Obama administration, prospects for Arab-Israeli peace, the impact of the Arab awakening, the outlook for the Egyptian elections, and opinions on where the region is headed politically.

U.S. Favorability Ratings Remain Positive, but China Seen Overtaking U.S. as Global Superpower. Released 13 July 2011

In most regions of the world, opinion of the United States continues to be more favorable than it was in the Bush years, but U.S. image now faces a new challenge: doubts about America’s superpower status. In 15 of 22 nations, the balance of opinion is that China either will replace or already has replaced the United States as the world’s leading superpower. This view is especially widespread in Western Europe, where at least six-in-ten in France (72%), Spain (67%), Britain (65%) and Germany (61%) see China overtaking the U.S.

Majorities in Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Mexico and China itself also foresee China supplanting the U.S. as the world’s dominant power. In most countries for which there are trends, the view that China will overtake the U.S. has increased substantially over the past two years, including by 10 or more percentage points in Spain, France, Pakistan, Britain, Jordan, Israel, Poland and Germany. Among Americans, the percentage saying that China will eventually overshadow or has already overshadowed the U.S. has increased from 33% in 2009 to 46% in 2011.

At least some of this changed view of the global balance of power may reflect the fact that the U.S. is increasingly seen as trailing China economically. This is especially the case in Western Europe, where the percentage naming China as the top economic power has increased by double digits in Spain, Germany, Britain and France since 2009.

In other parts of the globe, fewer are convinced that China is the world’s leading economic power. Majorities or pluralities in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America still name the U.S. as the world’s dominant economic power. In the Middle East, Palestinians and Israelis agree that America continues to sit atop the global economy, while in Jordan and Lebanon more see China in this role. Notably, by an almost 2-to-1 margin the Chinese still believe the U.S. is the world’s dominant economic power.

These are among the key findings from a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, conducted March 18 to May 15. The survey also finds that, in the U.S., France, Germany, Spain and Japan, those who see China as the world’s leading economic power believe this is a bad thing. By contrast, those who name the U.S. tend to think it is good that America is still the top global economy. In developing countries those who believe China has already overtaken the U.S. economically generally view this as a positive development. Meanwhile, in China, those who believe the U.S. is still the world’s leading economy tend to see this as a negative.

Compared with reaction to China’s economic rise, global opinion is more consistently negative when it comes to the prospect of China equaling the U.S. militarily. Besides the Chinese themselves, only in Pakistan, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Kenya do majorities see an upside to China matching the U.S. in terms of military power. Meanwhile, the prevailing view in Japan and India is that it would not be in their country’s interest if China were to equal the U.S. militarily; majorities across Western and Eastern Europe, and in Turkey and Israel, share this view....

Results for the survey are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Survey results are based on national samples except in China. Countries surveyed: Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia, United States, France, Germany, Russia, Britain, Egypt, Lebanon, Spain, India, Poland, China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, Palestinian territories, Israel, Ukraine, Lithuania. Throughout the report results for Pakistan are from interviews conducted in May 2011, following the death of Osama bin Laden. In all other countries, interviews were concluded in April 2011.

Views of US Continue to Improve in 2011
BBC Country Rating Poll. Released 7 March 2011

Views of the US continued their overall improvement in 2011, according to the annual BBC World Service Country Rating Poll of 27 countries around the world.

Of the countries surveyed, 18 hold predominantly positive views of the US, seven hold negative views and two are divided. On average , 49 per cent of people have positive views of US influence in the world--up four points from 2010--and 31 per cent hold negative views. The poll, conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA, asked a total of 28,619 people to rate the influence in the world of 16 major nations, plus the European Union.

In 2007 a slight majority (54%) had a negative view of the United States and only close to three in ten (28%) had a positive view; America was among the countries with the lowest ratings. Views began to rise in 2008, with positive views rising to 32% on average, and now the USA is in a middle tier position, ranking substantially higher than China.

A country that showed even greater improvement this year was Brazil. Positive views of Brazil's influence jumped from 40 to 49 per cent on average over the previous year, with negative views dropping to just 20 per cent. Views of Brazil are now predominantly positive in all but two of the countries polled (Germany and China).

In the year when South Africa hosted the World Cup, the proportion positively rating its influence in the world rose significantly, from 35 to 42 per cent. Germany was again the most positively viewed nation, with 62 per cent rating its influence as positive (up 3 points).

Overall, positive ratings increased of 13 of the 16 nations rated. These also included the United Kingdom, whose positive ratings rose five points to 58 per cent, making it, for the first time, the second most positively rated country. This upwards movement for many countries counters a downward movement found in 2010, but also, in most cases, surpasses the levels found in earlier years.

In marked contrast, the three most negatively viewed countries saw their average ratings go from bad to worse, including Iran (59% negative, up 3 points since 2010), North Korea (55%, up 6 points), and Pakistan (56%, up 5 points). There was a significant increase in negative views of Iran in key Western countries including the United Kingdom (up 20 points), Canada (up 19 points), the USA (up 18 points), and Australia (up 15 points). However, Israel, for many years among the least positively viewed nations, bucked this trend, keeping its negative ratings at 49 per cent and showing a slight lift in positive ratings from 19 to 21 per cent.

The BBC World Service Country Rating Poll has been tracking opinions about country influence in the world since 2005. The latest results are based on 28,619 in-home or telephone interviews conducted across a total of 27 countries by the international polling firm GlobeScan, together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. GlobeScan coordinated fieldwork between December 2, 2010 and February 4, 2011.

Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah. Released 2 December 2010

Extremist groups Hamas and Hezbollah continue to receive mixed ratings from Muslim publics. However, opinions of al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, are consistently negative; only in Nigeria do Muslims offer views that are, on balance, positive toward al Qaeda and bin Laden.

Hezbollah receives its most positive ratings in Jordan, where 55% of Muslims have a favorable view; a slim majority (52%) of Lebanese Muslims also support the group, which operates politically and militarily in their country.

But Muslim views of Hezbollah reflect a deep sectarian divide in Lebanon, where the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is threatening violence if a United Nations tribunal indicts Hezbollah members for the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. More than nine-in-ten (94%) Lebanese Shia support the organization, while an overwhelming majority (84%) of Sunnis in that country express unfavorable views.

In neighboring Egypt and Turkey, attitudes toward Hezbollah are generally negative. Just 30% of Muslims in Egypt, and even fewer (5%) in Turkey, offer favorable views of the Lebanon-based organization. Outside of Turkey and the Middle East, many Muslims cannot rate Hezbollah, but views are on balance positive among those who do offer an opinion of the group in Nigeria and Indonesia.

The survey, conducted April 12 to May 7 by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project, finds that the Palestinian organization Hamas, which, like Hezbollah, has been classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and other Western governments, also receives mixed ratings across the Muslim publics surveyed. Jordanian Muslims express the most support -- 60% have a favorable view of Hamas -- while Muslims in Turkey offer the least positive ratings (9% favorable and 67% unfavorable). Opinions of Hamas are nearly evenly split in Egypt and Lebanon.

In most countries, views of Hamas and Hezbollah have changed little, if at all, since 2009. In Indonesia, however, more Muslims express favorable views of both groups now than did so last year; 39% now have positive views of Hamas, compared with 32% last year, and 43% have favorable opinions of Hezbollah, compared with 29% in 2009. And among Nigerian Muslims, favorable views of both Hamas and Hezbollah are now less common than they were in 2009 (49% vs. 58% and 45% vs. 59%, respectively)....

2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll. Released 5 August 2010

Among the key poll findings are:

  • A substantial change in the assessment of President Obama, both as president of the United States and of Obama personally.
  • Remarkably stable views on the Arab-Israeli conflict and the prospects of its resolution.
  • A majority of the Arab public now see a nuclear-armed Iran as being better for the Middle East.

Among the most striking findings on the question of attitudes toward President Obama: Early in the Obama administration, in April and May 2009, 51% of the respondents in the six countries expressed optimism about American policy in the Middle East. In the 2010 poll, only 16% were hopeful, while a majority - 63% - was discouraged.

On Iran's potential nuclear weapons status, results show another dramatic shift in public opinion. While the results vary from country to country, the weighted average across the six countries is telling: in 2009, only 29% of those polled said that Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons would be "positive" for the Middle East; in 2010, 57% of those polled indicate that such an outcome would be "positive" for the Middle East.

The poll was directed by Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and nonresident senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, which is produced each year in conjunction with Zogby International. This year's poll surveyed 3,976 people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates, during the period of 29 June - 20 July 2010.

Obama More Popular Abroad than at Home, Global Image of U.S. Continues to Benefit. Released 17 June 2010

America's image is on balance positive in most of the nations surveyed, and overall there has been little change since last year. Looking at the 20 countries surveyed for which 2009 trends are available, positive views of the United States have become more common in six nations, less common in six, and have remained about the same in eight. But there have been notable shifts in some countries, including significant improvements in Russia and China.

Driven by President Obama's popularity in the region, favorable ratings for the U.S. in Western Europe soared between 2008 and 2009, and in this year's poll attitudes remain overwhelmingly positive in Britain, France, Germany and Spain.

Opinions about the U.S. have turned sharply negative, however, in Mexico, where resentment of Arizona's new immigration law is fueling a backlash against the U.S., the American people, and even against President Obama, who has publicly criticized the measure.

And, despite the continued favorable image of the U.S. in most parts of the world, in nine of the fifteen countries where comparable data is available, America's favorability still lags behind that found in 1999/2000 at the end of President Bill Clinton's time in office. The U.S. is only more popular in five countries than in the Clinton era – France, Spain, Russia, South Korea and Nigeria.

The U.S. also continues to face image challenges in predominantly Muslim nations. Roughly one year since Obama's Cairo address, America's image shows few signs of improving in the Muslim world, where opposition to key elements of U.S. foreign policy remains pervasive and many continue to perceive the U.S. as a potential military threat to their countries.

Concerns about American foreign policy are not limited to Muslim publics, however. Most notably, in regions across the globe, there is a common perception that the U.S. acts unilaterally in world affairs. The war in Afghanistan also remains widely unpopular, although publics among some of America's European allies are closely divided on this issue. Support for the war has declined over the last year in the U.S. and Americans are also now about evenly split between those who want to keep troops in Afghanistan and those who favor withdrawal.

One issue on which Americans and Western Europeans differ sharply is how they perceive religiosity in the U.S. By a hefty margin, the French, British and Germans say the U.S. is too religious a country, while Americans overwhelmingly think their country is not religious enough. On this issue, Americans tend to agree with the rest of the world – in 17 of 21 countries people tend to say the U.S. is not sufficiently religious.

U.S. Image Largely Positive

Majorities or pluralities in 17 of 21 countries have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of the U.S. The biggest increase in favorable ratings for the U.S. has been among Russians. In America's former Cold War nemesis, 57% now have a positive view, up 13 percentage points from last year. There was also a significant increase in the other former Eastern bloc nation included in the survey, Poland, where 74% express a favorable opinion, up from 67% in 2009.

Among America's key Western European allies, ratings remain generally positive and largely steady. After a steep decline in approval during the years of the Bush presidency, large majorities in all four Western European nations surveyed now express a positive attitude toward the U.S. Fully 73% in France give the U.S. positive marks, essentially unchanged from last year. U.S. favorability dropped just slightly in Britain, from 69% to 65%. Again this year, just over six-in-ten in Germany (63%) and Spain (61%) offered a favorable assessment.

Favorable ratings for the U.S. have suffered a double-digit decline in Egypt. In 2009, 27% of Egyptians had a favorable opinion, but this year only 17% hold this view, tying Egypt with Turkey (17%) and Pakistan (17%) for the lowest U.S. favorability rating in the survey. Views of the U.S. are only slightly more positive in Jordan, where 21% give a favorable assessment, down somewhat from 25% last year. The two predominantly Muslim countries that accord the U.S. its most positive ratings are Lebanon (55%) and, especially, Indonesia (59%), where President Obama's personal connection to the country buoys America's overall image.

Ratings for the U.S. have improved markedly in China – 58% have a positive view this year, up from 47% last year. America's image has been steadily improving in China since 2007, when only 34% expressed a favorable opinion.

Favorable ratings have become less common over the last year in India, dropping 10 percentage points. Nonetheless, 66% of Indians continue to hold a positive opinion of the U.S.

An identical percentage of Japanese (66%) voice a positive view. And despite the July 2009 election of a new ruling party that, according to many observers, has voiced criticisms of American policies, U.S. favorability has actually risen seven percentage points since the spring 2009 poll. Elsewhere in Asia, South Koreans continue to give the U.S. overwhelmingly positive marks (79%).

The only publics giving the U.S. higher marks than South Koreans are the two nations surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa. Roughly eight-in-ten (81%) have a positive view in the continent's most populous country, Nigeria. And with near unanimity, Kenyans (94%) voice a positive opinion of the U.S. Additionally, President Obama is extremely popular in Kenya, and the 2009 Pew Global Attitudes survey found that the vast majority of Kenyans were aware of his personal connection to their nation (his father was from Kenya). However, the U.S. was also relatively popular in Kenya, and in much of Africa, during George W. Bush's presidency....

Results for the survey are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. All surveys are based on national samples except in China, India, and Pakistan where the samples were disproportionately urban.

Global Views of United States Improve While Other Countries Decline
BBC/GlobeScan/PIPA. Released 18 April 2010

Global views of the United States have improved markedly over the last year while views of many countries have become more negative, according to the latest BBC World Service poll across 28 countries. For the first time since the BBC started tracking in 2005, views of the United States' influence in the world are now more positive than negative on average.

The survey, conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA among more than 29,000 adults, asked respondents to say whether they considered the influence of different countries in the world to be mostly positive or mostly negative. It found that the United States is viewed positively on balance in 20 of 28 countries, with an average of 46 per cent now saying it has a mostly positive influence in the world, while 34 per cent say it has a negative influence.

Compared to a year earlier, negative ratings of the United States have dropped a striking nine points on average across the countries surveyed both years, while positive ratings are up a more modest four points. Ratings of the influence of many other countries, meanwhile, have declined over the past year. On average, positive ratings of the United Kingdom and Japan are down three points, Canada down six points, and the European Union down four points. Ratings of the United Kingdom's influence in the world declined significantly in 11 countries and rose in only three....

Germany is the most favourably viewed nation (an average of 59% positive), followed by Japan (53%), the United Kingdom (52%), Canada (51%), and France (49%). The European Union is viewed positively by 53 per cent. In contrast, Iran is the least favourably viewed nation (15%), followed by Pakistan (16%), North Korea (17%), Israel (19%), and Russia (30%).

While it is not among the most favourably viewed nations, the improvement in the ratings of the United States means it has now overtaken China in terms of positive perceptions. Fifteen countries view China favourably on balance, with an average of 41 per cent feeling it has a mostly positive influence in the world and 38 per cent feeling its influence is mostly negative.

Iran attracts mostly negative views in all countries polled except Mexico and Pakistan--on average, 56 per cent rate it negatively. Views of Iran in China and Russia have deteriorated--positive views have dropped 11 points among the Chinese people (30%) while negative views of Iran have jumped up 13 points among Russians (to 45%).

The BBC World Service Poll has been tracking opinions about country influence in the world since 2005. The latest results are based on 29,977 in-home or telephone interviews conducted across a total of 28 countries by the international polling firm GlobeScan, together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. GlobeScan coordinated fieldwork between 30 November 2009 and 16 February 2010....

Global Perceptions of U.S. Leadership Improve in 2009
Gallup, Meridian International Center. Released 9 February 2010

Perceptions of U.S. leadership worldwide improved significantly from 2008 to 2009. The U.S.-Global Leadership Project, a partnership between the Meridian International Center and Gallup, finds that a median of 51% of the world approves of the job performance of the current leadership of the U.S., up from a median of 34% in 2008.

Gallup has asked residents worldwide to rate the leadership of the U.S. since 2005, which enables a comparison of how perceptions of U.S. leadership have changed from the Bush administration to the Obama administration. The global median approval of U.S. leadership remained relatively steady from 2005 to 2008. In 2009, a bare median majority approves of the job performance of U.S. leadership (51%) -- a first since Gallup began asking the question worldwide in 2005.

Significant improvements in sentiment toward U.S. leadership are evident in all four major global regions, with the largest year-over-year increase in approval measured in Europe. Median approval of U.S. leadership increased by 28 percentage points between 2008 and 2009 in this region. A median of 47% approves and a median of 20% disapproves -- the first time disapproval has dropped below 50% in Europe since Gallup first asked the question.

Historically, approval of U.S. leadership has been highest in Africa. However, there is great variability in the region on this issue with approval highest in sub-Saharan Africa and tending to be lower in North African countries. This trend continues in 2009, with a median approval of 83%, which is well above the median approval in other regions. Approval of U.S. leadership ranges from ratings that are higher than 90% in Ivory Coast (94%), Kenya (93%), and Uganda (91%) to lows of 38% in Morocco and 37% in Egypt and Tunisia.

A regional median of 53% in the Americas approves of the job performance of U.S. leadership and a median of 18% disapproves. Approval of U.S. leadership varies from a low of 40% in Bolivia and 42% in Argentina, Ecuador, and Nicaragua to a high of 68% in El Salvador.

Perceptions of U.S. leadership are more divided in Asia than in any other region. In 2009, a median of more than one-third (38%) say they approve, while 29% disapproved. Pakistanis express the lowest approval of U.S. leadership, at 9%, followed by 14% approval in Iraq, 15% in Syria, and 17% in Vietnam. Approval was highest in Singapore (68%), Japan (66%), Cambodia (64%), Turkmenistan (61%), and Israel (61%). ...

Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted in 121 countries throughout 2005-2006, 95 countries throughout 2007, 113 countries throughout 2008, and 102 countries throughout 2009. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error ranged from a low of ±2.2 percentage points in Russia to a high of ±5.8 percentage points in Ghana in 2005-2006; a low of ±3.0 percentage points in Belarus, Japan, and Malaysia to a high of ±5.4 percentage points in Ghana in 2007; a low of ±2.5 percentage points in Russia to a high of ±5.8 percentage points in Zambia in 2008; a low of ±2.8 percentage points in Russia to a high of ±5.7 percentage points in Slovenia in 2009. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

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