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World says oil greedy Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021204/ap_on_re_us/world_attitudes_3http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021204/ap_on_re_us/world_attitudes_3
U.S. National - AP
U.S. Culture Still Has Fans
Wed Dec 4, 5:13 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By SONYA ROSS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - In the eyes of much of the world, this is America: an inconsiderate lone wolf that has really good entertainment but really bad values, that wants war with Iraq just to get oil but still should remain as the only superpower on Earth.
In a broad international survey released Wednesday, the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that the United States is falling out of favor in 19 of 27 countries where a trend could be identified.
The dislike was especially striking in Muslim countries. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed in Jordan had an unfavorable opinion of America, as did 69 percent of Egyptians and Pakistanis and 59 percent of Lebanese. In Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Senegal, Turkey and Lebanon, the vast majority said they oppose the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
But ill will toward the United States was also found in supposedly friendly nations like Canada, Britain and Germany.
"The biggest headline is the slipping image of the United States, not simply that we're not liked in the Muslim world," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. "But there is still a great reserve of good will toward the United States."
The surveys in 44 countries were conducted by established survey organizations in each country between July and October, with polls done by phone in eight of the most developed countries and face-to-face in the others. The error margins ranged from plus or minus 2 percentage points to 4.5 points, depending on the sample size.
A generally favorable view of America is held in 35 of the 42 countries that took part in the survey. Among Russians, U.S. popularity has surged 24 points, from 37 percent two years ago to 61 percent today. Similarly, 77 percent of Nigerians and 85 percent of Uzbeks had pro-U.S. views, up 31 percent and 29 percent respectively.
The most common criticisms of the United States are that it acts by itself, it pushes policies that widen the gap between rich and poor nations, and it doesn't do enough to solve the world's problems.
Americans don't necessarily agree.
Seventy-five percent of Americans polled said U.S. foreign policy is considerate of others. But next door, only 25 percent of Canadians said America is a considerate world citizen. Perhaps surprisingly, U.S. foreign policy was deemed considerate by 53 percent of respondents in Germany, a harsh critic of President Bush (news - web sites)'s position on Iraq.
World citizens admire American technology and culture, but not the spread of U.S. ideas and customs; 54 percent of Canadians, 67 percent of Germans, 71 percent of the French and 84 percent of Egyptians said it would be bad to spread American ideas and customs.
But Canadians — 77 percent of them — also said they like American music, movies and TV. It was much the same for Venezuela (78 percent), Poland (70 percent), Japan (74 percent), Ivory Coast (84 percent) and Great Britain (76 percent).
U.S. officials have tried to do something about America's image problem abroad. The White House established an office of "global communications" to provide in-depth explanations of President Bush's foreign policy.
Madeleine Albright (news - web sites), secretary of state during the Clinton administration and chair of the Pew survey, said the fact that the United States is the world's only superpower may have led to the results.
"In many ways, we are viewed as the rich guy living on the hill," Albright said. "We have seen this coming since the end of the Cold War."
Most of the people surveyed said they don't want the world to again have more than one superpower. Even in Russia, 53 percent said they believe the world is safer with just one.
In Germany, the percentage of people who hold a favorable view of the United States fell 17 points over two years. In 1999/2000, 78 percent of Germans considered the United States favorably, this year 61 percent.
In Turkey, which is being actively courted for help in a possible war with Iraq, pro-U.S. views dropped from 52 percent to 30 percent.
Sentiments were similar in Argentina, where 34 percent saw the United States in a good light, compared to 50 percent two years ago. In Indonesia and the Slovak Republic, favorable ratings fell 14 points.
Large percentages of Muslim respondents in several countries said they believe suicide bomb attacks are a justifiable defense of Islam. This was especially so in Lebanon, where 73 percent supported this belief.
Also, 21 countries rated the news media as a good influence, while the military was seen as a good influence in 15 countries. Five gave the top rating in influence to religious leaders. Only one, Ivory Coast, said the national government is the top influence.
In six countries — Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Turkey and the United States — the majority said Iraq poses a great or moderate threat to the world, and Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) must go.
Only 22 percent of Americans said oil is the United States' real motive for pursuing war with Iraq, but 44 percent of the British, 75 percent of the French, 54 percent of Germans and 76 percent of Russians held that view.
When it comes to conditions at home, Uzbeks and the Vietnamese were the happiest of all. Sixty-nine percent said they are satisfied with the state of their countries. In Peru and Argentina, only 3 percent of respondents said they are pleased with the way things are at home.
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On the Net: http://www.people-press.org
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