Government Fail: America's Image

Two months ago, I wrote a post about how much attention the presidential election was getting overseas.

I have lived in China since August 2003 and one thing that has always amazed me has been the global reach of American politics. For sure, criticism of American foreign policy in the Middle East is to be expected, and I have often found myself in heated debates over the War in Iraq.

SNIP

These days, whenever I find myself in a discussion about American politics, it usually involves the 2008 election. The interest is stunning. Just months into the election of 2008, in April 2007, I found myself in an intense Obama v. Clinton debate (guess which side I took) with an Austrian acquaintance over dinner. We talked about hope, change, experience, symbolism, the war in Iraq.

The world is watching this election closely. The historic primary battle between Senators Clinton and Obama is one reason. But there is another reason. The world doesn't like our president or his foreign policy. A British newspaper nicely summarized the world's reaction to George Bush's relection in 2004:

In the summer of 2006, Pew released a report on how foreign countries view the United States. They compared the results of international polling data going back to 2000. Pew reported that favorable attitudes toward America have declined during the course of George Bush's presidency.

Even in Great Britain, our closest ally, the attitudes toward America have slipped 27 points. In 2006, barely half of the population had a favorable opinion of the United States.

Why have attitudes toward America changed so much? The invasion of Iraq and the arrogant, condescending attitude of our nation's leader. On the second anniversary of September 11th, the New York Times reported that the war had cause support for the United States to deteriorate:

In the two years since Sept. 11, 2001, the view of the United States as a victim of terrorism that deserved the world's sympathy and support has given way to a widespread vision of America as an imperial power that has defied world opinion through unjustified and unilateral use of military force.

''A lot of people had sympathy for Americans around the time of 9/11, but that's changed,'' said Cathy Hearn, 31, a flight attendant from South Africa, expressing a view commonly heard in many countries. ''They act like the big guy riding roughshod over everyone else.''

In interviews by Times correspondents from Africa to Europe to Southeast Asia, one point emerged clearly: The war in Iraq has had a major impact on public opinion, which has moved generally from post-9/11 sympathy to post-Iraq antipathy, or at least to disappointment over what is seen as the sole superpower's inclination to act pre-emptively, without either persuasive reasons or United Nations approval.

Who cares? No matter who is president, things will change and the world will be pleased, right?

Not exactly. For all his talk about how he was right about the surge and how he stood up to the president and his own party, there is no daylight between George Bush and John Mcain on Iraq. When Iraqi leaders came out in support of Obama's Iraq policy, John McCain, channeling George Bush's arrogance, rejected Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's statement that the US needed to set a timetable for leaving Iraq. Electing John McCain means four more years of the Bush Iraq policy: more war and more false attacks on his political opponents.

The United States of America--and the world--cannot afford four more years of Republican rule. On Tuesday, August 26, Hillary Clinton is going to address to the Democratic National Convention. She is going to reiterate her support for Senator Obama and she is going to call on all of her supporters to join her in helping him get elected. That certainly is not the speech that Hillary wanted to give, and it's not the speech this blogger wanted to watch.

But the reality is that Obama is the nominee and we only have two choices in this election--war or peace. Hillary chooses peace. I choose peace. What about you?

The World is Watching

Cross-posted at MyDD.

I have lived in China since August 2003 and one thing that has always amazed me has been the global reach of American politics. For sure, criticism of American foreign policy in the Middle East is to be expected, and I have often found myself in heated debates over the War in Iraq.

The morning after the 2004 election, my colleague was reading a Chinese newspaper. On the front page was a map of the United States, painted in Republican red and Democratic blue. He looked at me and said, “What went wrong?” For months after the election, I found myself on defense, trying to explain why, as one British newspaper put it:



Even taxi drivers would ask me about it. I eventually started telling them I was British. Few people had a true understanding of American politics or American culture, but all of the people I encountered were fascinated with with our election.

These days, whenever I find myself in a discussion about American politics, it usually involves the 2008 election. The interest is stunning. Just months into the election of 2008, in April 2007, I found myself in an intense Obama v. Clinton debate (guess which side I took) with an Austrian acquaintance over dinner. We talked about hope, change, experience, symbolism, the war in Iraq.
Last night, I went to a local bookstore to find a new Sudoku book and stumbled upon this:



The world is watching this election. And the world wants a change in American foreign policy.

Democrat Barack Obama's bid to become the first African-American US president has raised hopes in Europe and Africa, where majorities foresee a positive change in US foreign policy, a survey suggested on Thursday.

While Obama received more positive marks overall than his Republican rival John McCain among the 24 countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes project, not all looked forward to improvement with November's election.

This Pew Research Center survey also found that America’s image, while still below pre-Iraq war levels, has begun to improve slightly:

Five years after the start of the war in Iraq, the image of the United States abroad remains far less positive than it was before the war and at the beginning of the century. However, the latest survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project finds some encouraging signs for America's global image for the first time this decade.

Favorable views of the United States have increased modestly since 2007 in 10 of 21 countries where comparative data are available.

After seven years of watching the American foreign policy establishment ignore allies, dismiss criticism, and violate international treaties, the world is ready for a change in leadership it what is still widely seen as the global leader in finance, culture, economics, and politics. In an age of economic uncertainty, conflict in the middle east, and rise of new economic powers in Asia, the world is looking for an American that is humble and engaged. The world is looking for new leadership, not the second coming of George Bush.

No matter how nasty this primary season has been, no matter how unhappy I am with the outcome, no matter how unenthusiastic (read: disgusted) I am with the nominee, I will not allow emotion to cloud my judgment.

Stop John McCain. The world is watching.