Obama has boosted US image abroad – survey

A Washington research center has just released its annual survey on international attitudes toward the United States, and it has found a substantial change since Barack Obama took office.

The poll was conducted by the Pew Research Center in 24 countries and involved 27,000 interviews. Across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia the image of the US has improved, but in many Muslim countries a lot of animosity remains, seemingly deep and strong. The question is whether Obama will be able to change it for the better.

“Many are satisfied with President Obama because he is different from his predecessor, that’s about 50%,” said Walid Phares from the Institute for Defense of Democracy, commenting on Muslims’ attitude toward Obama.

“But the other 50% wonder about what he is going to offer on each problem separately: Palestinians have an issue to solve, Israelis as well, Sudanese have a lot of things to be sorted out.”