by Mark Silva
President Barack Obama will face a tough audience when he delivers his long-promised address to the Muslim world on Thursday from Cairo University.
In some of the Arab nations and territory in the region, most notably his host country of Egypt, public views about the "job performance of the leadership of the United States'' have improved remarkably from one president to the next - from the view that Arabs held of former President George W. Bush's leadership last summer, to the views they voiced of Obama's leadership in March.
Yet even in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the two nations where Obama will begin his journey this week, a positive view of U.S. leadership is still shared by about one in four of those surveyed: Up from 12 percent last summer to 29 percent in Saudi Arabia, according to survey results released today by the Gallup Poll on the eve of the president's trip, and up from just 6 percent to 25 percent in Egypt.
"These upsurges, which ranged from 11 percentage points in Syria to 23 points in Tunisia, may reflect positive reception to Obama and his administration's public outreach to the Muslim world,'' Gallup reports today. "Obama will deliver his message Thursday with an arguably stronger basis of support than his predecessor ever had in many Arab countries. Nonetheless, approval remains low and underscores the work that remains as Obama seeks to pave a new, more positive way forward.''
In nearly all of the 11 nations and territories where the public was surveyed, public opinion of the U.S. leadership has improved from last year - up 23 percent in Tunisia, from 14 to 37, up 22 points in Algergia from 25 to 47, up 14 points in Qatar, from 8 to 22 percent, up 13 in Kuwait, from 20 ro 33, up 11 in Syria, from 4 to 15 percentage point approval.
In two palaces, however, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, the view of U.S. leadership is no brighter today than it was last summer: 22 percent approval registered in Lebanon, down from 25 points last summer, 7 percent in the Palestinian territories, down from 13 points in June.
And it is the Palestinians in particular whom Obama is attempting to offer some hope about the ability of the United States to reengage in the region and help broker a long-elusive peace with Israel. It's no accident that the president's trip will start in Riyadh on Wednesday, with a private meeting with King Abdullah. He is counting on the Saudis to help rally other Arab nations.
"Throughout much of President George W. Bush's second term, Gallup found U.S. leadership approval ratings in many Arab countries at times in the single digits and among the lowest in the world,'' Gallup's Julie Ray and Mohamed Younis report today. "Declines in approval were evident in several Arab countries over time, and in some nations, Egypt in particular, views soured significantly toward the end of Bush's term.
"Surveys conducted roughly two months into Obama's presidency show median approval of U.S. leadership across the 11 Arab countries surveyed at 25%, ranging from a low of 7% in the Palestinian Territories to a high of 56% in Mauritania,'' they note. "In eight Arab countries, including Egypt, Gallup recorded double-digit increases in approval from the last measurements of Bush's term. ''
The already dim view of the U.S. has soured, however, in the Palestinian territories..
"Perhaps relted to Obama's silence during Israel's attacks on Gaza shortly before he took office, Palestinians grew more uncertain about the leadership of the United States between 2008 and 2009,'' Gallup's researchers report. " Disapproval of U.S. leadership during this period remained steady at about 80 percent, but the percentages of Palestinians who did not have an opinion doubled from 6 to 12 percent.
"It's important to note that when Gallup asked Palestinians in 2008 whether it would make a difference who was elected president of the United States, a substantial majority (72%) said it would not.''
The survey of 1,000 adults carries a possible margin of error ranging from 3.3 percent points in Tunisia to 3.8 percentage points in Yemen.
Comments
Tony Blair and the President can do all the jawboning in the world.
But so far as I've observed over the decades,
The principals in Israel/Palestine don't really want peace.
At all.
They want to rip each other's jugular out.
That seems to me the remarkable constant in their neck of the woods.
Until that changes from within, Tony can give all the press conferences and Barack can make the most eloquent speechs of his career, but
Nothing will change.
Posted by: ornery | June 1, 2009 12:10 PM