US President Barack Obama delivers a speech in Hradcany Square, Prague, Czech Republic, on April 5.
(Jason Reed/Reuters/File)Photos (1 of 1)
Obama is Mr. Popular around the globe
A new survey finds President Obama enjoys an international approval rating of 61 percent, proving he isn’t just an American favorite.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer/ June 30, 2009 edition
If there were a reality show called “World Political Idol,” President Obama would win in a walk.
Around the globe, Mr. Obama inspires more confidence - by a wide margin - than any other national leader, according to a recent 20-country poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org.
An average of 61 percent of respondents expressed a lot or some belief that the US chief executive would “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” in the survey’s phrase. (This figure excludes US voters, for whom the comparable figure was 70 percent.)
Second place in this “Earth’s Got Talent” was a tie between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Their confidence rating was 40 percent.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Not through to the final round! Only 28 percent of respondents around the world had any confidence in his abilities. He was last among major leaders rated by voters from around the world.
The WorldPublicOpinion poll surveyed about 20,000 people in countries that make up 62 percent of the world’s population. Most of the biggest nations were included, among them China, India, Russia, the US, and Indonesia.
Obama did not do well everywhere. Only 23 percent of Russians had any confidence he would do the right thing. (By contrast, Russians gave an 82 percent thumbs-up to their own Prime Minister Valdimir Putin.)
In Pakistan, Obama won only 30 percent approval. In Egypt, the figure was 39 percent, despite the US president’s attempts to reach out to the Muslim world.
By contrast, there are nations where Obama is far more popular than he is at home. In Great Britain, 92 percent of respondents said they had confidence in his actions. In Kenya, it was 95 percent.
While Obama hit the 55 percent mark in China, he was out-polled there by Prime Minister Putin, whose confidence rating among Chinese was 64 percent.
Comments
2. Rama Barnwell | 07.01.09
The spacecraft has not even left Earth’s atsmosphere. And we are already asking of this President to give us the moon. There has been (to my way of thinking) only one other President in modern time who has had to work as hard as Mr. Obama is working to get the country back in good working order. Too many of us act as if we were children who can’t wait for the cookies to get done. The President may be percievd as a super star. But he is just a man—the man we the people elected to be the 44th President of the United States of America. Cut the man some lack.
3. Travel | 07.01.09
It is okay to see where our President stands in other counties if they have that type of vote. I would take that as a giggle in the % of likes or dislikes. The President is told what to do in some areas he is not an expert in. If he studies into the subjects that makes him a better President. He is what he Is A President and should be treated as such. Our burnt out thoughts should see where he is leading us, If he is doing so wrong get off your butts and do something about it.
4. Manuel T. Miller | 07.01.09
I have a verified opinion on the outcome of our president and his approval rating is not in cement, yet. However, we all hope to see some changes made that will effect each and everyone in these United States. The atmosphere is such that the majority of individuals are not sufficently exposed to international politics
and do not understand. What is known as the pecking order of survival and we are not there yet and I have my doubts, about the outcome. Most people have forgotten that we are not the only people who can think and have their minds made up on what they need to do to achieve a mark improvement in their lives.
5. bitter sweet to america haters | 07.01.09
you will always be in a mess, Pete, so long as your country is aggressor over the world.
6. phil ruff | 07.02.09
Obama’s rating has taken a plunge. Why don’t you tell us that? Why will none of you say anything bad about this totally inexperienced President. Never has anyone taken oratory skills to such an absurd level of undeserved accomplishment. You (his media)have protected him from critical examination, attacked any potential threat (My God, you’re still hyserical trying to demean Sara Palin), shown us only the basketball shots that go in……
ENOUGH! I don’t care if some poll says that people in Czechoslovakia think
he’s a cool dude.
7. John | 07.02.09
The president said he wants to “create three million new jobs”.
And he said After more than five decades of talks, it is time for the testing of nuclear weapons to finally be banned.
This all cheap talk and nothing else.
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1. pete | 07.01.09
I never knew his election was to decide a popularity contest!
I thought it was to fix the mess we are in.Seems I was wrong on both counts!
Too bad!