Layalina Productions, Inc. | The Layalina Review: "Obama and the Muslim World: A Long Way to Go"

The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 16, July 17-July 30, 2009

Obama and the Muslim World: A Long Way to Go

The Pew Research Center’s annual global attitudes survey demonstrated that the 27,000 people polled in 25 countries have a more positive attitude towards the US. In many countries, positive opinions of the US are now almost as strong as they were before George W. Bush took office, proving that Barack Obama has restored America’s global standing.

According to the Pew Research Center, the resurgence in the US image reflects international confidence in Obama’s foreign policy. The approval rating for Obama’s current international policies was high in most countries.

The majority of countries support the closure of Guantanamo and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, yet many oppose the increase of troops in Afghanistan. Moreover, the opinion of US unilateralism has not changed; most feel as though the US does not consider other countries when making foreign policy decisions.

Analysis of the survey concludes that views of the US are influenced more by personal confidence in Obama than by opinions of his specific policies. Even in some countries where the US remains unpopular, significant percentages of the population believe that Obama “will do the right thing in international affairs.”

For example, in Egypt and Jordan, where US favorability is rated at 25 and 27 percent respectively, confidence in Obama stands at 42 and 31 percent. Moreover, many of the people polled claimed that it was Obama's election which led them to have a more favorable view of the US.

Improvements in the US image are most pronounced in Western Europe, though the poll suggests that views of America improved even in predominantly Muslim countries that held overwhelmingly negative views of the US during the Bush administration. This shows that America's standing has advanced the world over.

The most obvious improvement in a Muslim country occurred in Indonesia where the population embraces Obama’s family ties to the country.

Yet, for the most part, opinions of the US among Muslims in the Middle East remain largely unfavorable. Despite a slight increase in US opinion in Egypt and Jordan, animosity toward the US remains strong in the Palestinian territories, with 15 percent in 2009, and in Turkey, with 14 percent -- the lowest rating in 2009.

The polling in the Muslim world took place before and after Obama’s speech in Cairo, allowing experts at Pew to measure the effect of Obama's remarks. The experts’ analysis of the poll determined that the speech had little measurable impact on views of the US or Obama himself. Chris Good, from The Atlantic, agrees, “Obama's high-profile address to the Muslim world in Cairo this summer… has yet to mend the fences Obama sought out.”

Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright tells the Financial Times that she is, "A little surprised by the continuing Muslim numbers.” Albright described the Muslim and Western worlds as being in a “very deep rift,” which would “take some time to fix.”

The Moor Next Door agrees that Obama will need to take concrete action following the speech in order to change Muslim opinion. The source claims that Obama’s “overtures to the Arabs were largely symbolic in nature, designed to make their publics more optimistic” and that Obama is “more interested in the spin around big talk than what the words actually mean or what might come of them in real terms.”

The article cites the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example, stating that, “the Obama administration has not been tough on either the Israelis or the Arabs; it has made promises and little progress.”

The image of the US improved in every country except Israel, where the current US rating is lower than in past surveys. Israeli opinion slipped notably after Obama’s speech in Cairo, while in contrast, Palestinian opinion improved after the speech, but only by 5 percent.

The number of Palestinians who believe that Obama will consider their country's interests when making international policy increased from 27 to 39 percent, following the Cairo speech. Yet, more than six in ten Jordanians, Egyptians and Lebanese do not think that the US president will fairly handle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Nevertheless, for the first time in the history of Pew’s surveys, there is more confidence overall in the US president than in bin Laden. Yet, in the Palestinian territories and Pakistan, bin Laden's ratings continue to exceed Obama's by considerable margins.

Back to articles