FARS News Service & Helle Dale / The Heritage Foundation – 2012-12-16 01:10:42
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107127187
US Think Tank: Europeans Oppose Washington’s Drone Attacks
FARS News Service
TEHRAN (December 15, 2012) — A majority of Europeans oppose the US military drone attacks on different countries of the world, a leading US think tank said, citing the results of a recent study by a credible American institute.
In an article in the Heritage Foundation, Helle Dale wrote that the 2012 Pew Global Attitudes survey published last week revealed a persistent gap between Americans and Europeans when it comes to US military operations, including drone attacks in other countries.
While most Americans, 6 in 10, support US President Barack Obama’s use of drone attacks against targets in foreign countries in the Middle East and some African countries, majorities in Europe oppose them, except in Britain, where the public is divided 50-50, it said.
On the issue of military force, Americans remain more inclined than Europeans to approve, they believe less in the United Nations, and they continue to express willingness to “go it alone if necessary”, the article wrote.
At the same time, Europeans and Americans continue to differ on essential values. What Pew calls “the values gap” between Americans and Europeans persists. They just don’t see the world in the same way and, since the founding of this country, never have.
Global Verdict on Obama’s Crumbling Foreign Policy
Helle Dale / The Heritage Foundation
(October 2, 2012) — Recent survey results show that the Obama Administration’s foreign policy has been unsuccessful in the promotion of America and in improving hostile relationships, especially in the Middle East.
What’s more, polls taken by Transatlantic Trends 2012 show that the disapproval of the current Administration continues to grow.
Directly linked to the approval (or disapproval) of Obama’s international policies is favorability toward the United States. Barack Obama rode to victory in 2008 declaring that he would improve relations with the Middle East. Fast forward four years, and favorability toward America in Middle Eastern countries among (nominally, at least) US allies such as Jordan (12 percent), Pakistan (12 percent), and Egypt (19 percent) is lower than it was during the Bush Administration.
In addition to the Transatlantic Trends poll, a Pew Global Attitudes Project report in June showed that confidence in Obama has decreased internationally — in some cases, dramatically.
Not that currying favor abroad should be the top priority for a US President, but in this case, what is so striking is that the numbers have plummeted in countries to whom Obama has tried to cozy up.
In China, approval of Obama’s leadership has plummeted from 57 percent to a dismal 27 percent. In Russia, it has decreased from 40 percent to 22 percent. And, as recent events can attest, in Muslim countries, approval is getting close to rock bottom, with a decline from 34 percent to 15 percent in the last three years.
Obama rose to “celebrity status” on the promise to restore America’s reputation in the world, but he has fueled the fire of anti-Americanism around the world by his repeated apologies for the US and its founding values. He has given credibility to the view that the US is no longer the global superpower that promotes freedom around the world but a declining power that must apologize for its past transgressions.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
