Barack Obama ran for president in 2008 based in part on the promise that he would restore America’s standing in the world, and a new Gallup poll released today shows that he has done just that. Respondents in 100 countries were surveying and the United States was the most popular world power at 47%. This is a roughly 14% increase in America’s global standing since the Bush administration.
Gallup found that Obama has managed to turn the US from the power that trailed Japan, Germany, France, Russia, and even China from 2007-2008 into the most popular of the world’s global powers. US leadership is now approved of by 47% of the world and only 25% disapprove. Germany is second with a 40%/17% approval to disapproval ratio. France was third with a 39% approval rating followed by Japan (37%), the UK (35%), China (31%), and Russia (27%).
The poll also found that by nearly a 4 to 1 margin, the US is the most popular migration destination. Canada and the UK were tied for second at 7%. I can already hear conservatives snickering and saying, “Of course Obama made us popular around the world, he is always apologizing,” and then throwing in some variant of their belief that real leaders like tyrants must be despised.
However as Gallup pointed out a recent study has shown a potential real world impact that global popularity can have on terrorism, “Princeton economist Alan Krueger’s recent analysis in Science magazine of 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa suggests there is a statistical link between global leadership approval ratings and terrorist attacks. The findings should not be misconstrued to mean that lower approval ratings equal more terrorist attacks. The main takeaway is that the “…results are inconsistent with one hypothesis: that public opinion is irrelevant for terrorism because terrorists are extremists who act independently of their countrymen’s attitudes toward the leadership of the countries that they attack.”
The hypothesis presented above is one most frequently relied on conservatives. America should go it alone because the terrorists hate our freedoms and are going to attack us no matter what we do. What conservatives ignore when they discount the value of global popularity is the role that it plays in winning the hearts of potential extremists. If the US can create an environment where people grow up and live with a favorable impression of America, then this can be used to negate the message of extremists before it has a chance to take root.
It is also much easier to build an international coalition when your leader doesn’t spend his free time pissing off the rest of the world. Even though Republicans like Sarah Palin love to paint Obama as a globally reviled international failure, the opposite looks to be true. Obama and his administration’s policies have rebuilt America’s image aboard. The rest of the world is beginning to trust America to lead again.
In the eyes of the world the image of America as a cowboy nation with no respect for the concept of freedom and the very values that is was founded on is slipping by the wayside. Obama has rebuilt our nation’s global standing, and helped to potentially increase our future security.
To borrow a phrase from George W. Bush, “Mission Accomplished.” Heck of job, President Obama.
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english saddle
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Take that Republicans!
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
do we all remember a time at a G 20 summit meeting when not one world leader would shake George W. Bush hand?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGrBRe-vi88
I don’t think that president Obama apologized for anything. He just knew how to make things right where George W. Bush had made them wrong.
as far as Sarah Palin goes a think we can see why her star is quickly falling. Seeing another poll this morning at Huffington Post, she is dropping like a rock and it’s all due to her mouth. The same thing that happened to America because of George W. Bush
to quote a world-famous philosopher: “we’re BACK in the saddle again”
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english saddle
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Was thinking of that song myself. In your face to the fake cowboys and cowgirls of the right.
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majii
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
I remember, Shiva, but when conservatives are reminded of it, their first reaction is, “Obama caused the economic recession of 2008!!”
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betty
Mar. 27th, 2011 at 11:13 am
I was trying to remember which world meeting it was. No one would shake Bush’s hand or even be near him when the picture was taken. Now, people run to get Obama’s autograph. Even at the last State of the Union, hypocrites like Michelle Bachman, gave him the program so she could get his autograph. I agree that Obama never apologized for the U.S. but is leading by example.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 27th, 2011 at 11:17 am
lemme look, I had the youtube up yesterday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMOGK4-tAw8
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Reynardine
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Furthermore, he doesn’t eat gravy-dripping foods with his fingers or chew with his mouth open at state dinners, in front of monarchs and prime ministers. Of course, the Snotzis will adduce that as more proof that he’s “not one of us”.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
I have a feeling that he doesn’t spend all night sitting on the porch cleaning his gun, while spitting off the porch to see if he can hit old yeller 15 feet away either,
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majii
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
The entire world was waiting with bated breath to see how the 2008 U.S. presidential election turned out. When the world learned that Obama had won, it let out a collective sigh of relief. The conservatives don’t believe in getting our allies to assist in international conflicts, they don’t believe that the U.N. can play a significant role in international conflicts/events, and they don’t believe in talking to our adversaries under any conditions. For them America is a rogue nation that can do whatever it wants to do and d@mn the consequences. IMO, this is why they have conniption fits every time President Obama takes his time before making a decision. It does indeed seem that President Obama has “cleared out the Bushes and restored America’s global popularity.”
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jackie
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Too bad Obamas approval ratings in ALL US states are down.
Overall, Obama’s nationwide approval rating was 47 percent in 2010, down from 58 percent in 2009, and, throughout the country, the president’s approval ratings declined — even in states where he registered above-average marks. The sharpest drop came in Vermont, where his approval dropped more than 15 percentage points to 52.6 percent in 2010. Between 2009 and 2010, Obama’s approval ratings fell more than 10 points in more than 30 states.
Plus this…
Despite their relatively high overall ratings, U.S. leaders saw their approval ratings suffer double-digit declines last year in 14 countries, including Egypt, Japan and Britain. Gallup could not say why.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Here is a link to historic Obama job ratings
http://pollingreport.com/obama_job.htm
I dont think any president in these times could have much of a rating.
Here are his favorability ratings as well. You will find all these are a compilation of many polls
http://pollingreport.com/obama_fav.htm
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Sarah Jones
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Or, you could say he is on par with Reagan.
Depends on how you frame it.
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Eykis
Mar. 27th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Jackie,
Oh, sorry, Snowbilly Grifter: YOU WILL NEVER BE POTUS, go home and stay there, and STFU.
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Phantom
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
It’s a cool talking-point to start with a poll result, but, I think we should regard them ALL with scepticism. I mean, I don’t care if a poll says I’m with the majority; what were the questions? How many did they ask? Who did they ask? There SEEMS to be a “science” behind it, that by polling maybe .4% of a population, pollsters can extrapolate the mood of millions. I’m just sceptical.
(and let’s not forget who the most “popular” girl was in High School.)
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Jason Easley
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
If you follow the Gallup link you can find full documentation of their methodology. I don’t use polls that won’t publicly document their methodology.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
a quick study of statistics would give you a better understanding of how and why polling takes place. It’s the exact same science that people use in manufacturing to predict the outcome based on a certain sample size of their entire product output
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Phantom
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
But,is the manufacturing poll EVER wrong, resulting in a change? Is it that EXACT?? How is that extapolation CHECKED? (My point is that NOBODY should use poll results as a talking-point)
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Oldsun
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
You miss the point of polls, the poll is a tool used to see the truth. The more in your pool (sample size) the closer to the truth you will be, as well as the diversity of the pool. Now take in the effect of the questions (you use more than one on the same topic to get a feel for how the answer is clocked (leaning one-way or another way). Then you use a formula based on what outcome (population, mean, correlation, probability) you want to look at. Double check your math and you have a close look at the truth. Your use of the word exact is a misnomer no poll is exact, it only shows the truth or how close to the truth you are.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
it is true that the more people you have in a poll the better, but what is even more important is that you are covering all the demographics. you can poll 10,000 people about the economy, but the poll is no good if everyone that you sample makes under $19,000 a year you will receive an extremely skewed response. You would want to sample people in every class that we have. So the cross sample is the key. Of course the questions you ask etc. are all in play
of course the demographics depend totally on the type of poll and the subject matter
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Phantom
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Right,right;it’s all a science and maybe I’m just being overly sceptical about the business of polling,but,I tell you I take every poll with a grain of salt.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
I would have to agree with you hundred percent, to take every poll with a grain of salt. for instance, when I want to look at a poll I go to pollingreport.com where they have many different polls stacked on top of each other. It’s not unusual to have a poll come out saying one thing one thing and have another one in a week saying something else. however, statistical polling today is quite a science as it has been done for a long time.
And people have their favorite polls. Many people watch Rasmussen polls that no matter what happens will spit out a conservative reply or response.if you put a Rasmussen poll next to 10 other polls, Rasmussen will always be dramatically different. So I like to look at what a few different polls at the same time for the same issue.
Realclearpolitics is another website that has quite a few polls at one time so you can see comparisons
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Phantom
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
You say “Then you use a formula based on what outcome (population, mean, correlation, probability) you want to look at.”
So, does that formula check out? I haven’t the mathematic education to decide.Do you? All I can do is read results and either accept them or not.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Lemme butt in for a second, and just say the science behind polls is the exact science that put the Japs far ahead of us in manufacturing cars and car parts in the 80′s. Statistical analysis
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Phantom
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
But wouldn’t that be a simple sales chart, rather than a poll?
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
No
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Phantom
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Well, I say “YES”.
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Oldsun
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Hey phantom here is a good website on stats http://stattrek.com/Lesson1/Formulas.aspx?Tutorial=Stat
Polls are just stats
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Phantom
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Right, right; but they’re statistics on THE PEOPLE WHO ARE POLLED. I’m still not convinced of the idea that these pollsters ask a perfect, random sample with which they can thus extrapolate the opinion of ALL the people. (I just think people shouldn’t make MAJOR decisions based on polls.)
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Shiva (Moderator)
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
I will discuss it again when you have some understanding of statistical analysis
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dissenter
Mar. 25th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
I voted for Obama and feel utterly betrayed by his continuance of Bush’s foreign policy. If those polled are still mesmerized by that silver tongue, all I can say is that I’m glad they won’t be voting here next year.
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jag pop
Mar. 26th, 2011 at 7:40 am
How about the popularity of polls?
I’ll never tire of polls that demonstrate that people are idiots.
Hmmmm…how about a poll about polls?
1) Are people such sheeple that their opinions can be swayed based upon what they are told other people’s opinions are?
2) When later proven fooled by Texas sized delusions do people finally “get it”, or do they wait for a poll to help them gloss over their errors?
3) Is it the poll results or the poll result analysis that is most persuasive?
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jag pop
Mar. 26th, 2011 at 7:56 am
Do people still believe:
1) That Obama might give us the 9/11 Commission we deserve.
(Check that)…give us a worthy 9/11 Commission.
2) That Obama is an honest broker in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
3) That Obama cares about the average American’s health care?
4) That Obama will protect the future of this country from banksters?
5) That Obama will not feed the imperialistic military/industrial complex?
6) That Obama will not murder dozens of women and children in Yemen with a sneak attack by Cruise missles eight days before the Underpants Bomber is sent in retaliation?
7) That when Saudi Arabia’s intelligence (sic) apparatus mails dud bombs to us in the most blatant of false flag attacks Obama will have something more to say than “(yawn) we have credible evidence to believe al Qaida in Yemen is responsible”?
8) That Obama won’t allow the Iraqi Parliament to be decimated by a bomb that thus legitimizes our multi-decade presence in Iraq?
9) That Obama will protect our rights?
10) That Obama will stop using Gitmo as a source of phoney intelligence and provocateurs to soften up the American people to accept a continuation of the self-perpetuating War On Terror?
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Matthew
Mar. 26th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
THIS is how we make a better world. Throughout the entire 19th Century we were a beacon to the nations of the world. We influenced and inspired liberating revolutions and movements toward democracy in Europe without sending in one soldier. We can be that scion to the world again. And even in the most cynical of views; we can get our way a whole lot cheaper than invading everyone we disagree with.
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Debbie P
Mar. 27th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I have several email friends in Australia (one of our allies) who say that they & their fellow countrymen, are getting sick and tired of America’s imperialism and of their government always agreeing to sending their troops into whatever war America wants to get in. Wonder how many more of our allies are feeling that way.
Seems we are gaining points in other countries, but losing points with our allies. Sad!
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