|
Survey Shows Huge Leap in European Support for US Foreign PolicyBy Gregor Peter Schmitz (DER SPIEGEL 09/09/09)US President Barack Obama has made America much more popular with Europeans, a new study shows. According to the survey, 77 percent of Europeans have a positive view of Obama's handling of international affairs, compared to just 19 percent who supported George W. Bush's foreign policy.Six months after Barack Obama, European support for the new US president is still high, according to the new Transatlantic Trends survey. The survey, which was published Wednesday, says that 92 percent of Germans have a positive view of Obama's handling of foreign affairs, and that similar figures can be found in Italy (91 percent), the Netherlands (90 percent), Portugal (90 percent) and France (88 percent).
In comparison, last year's survey found that only 19 percent of Europeans had a positive view of then-President George W. Bush's handling of foreign affairs. Likewise, the survey also found that the number of people who believed that the trans-Atlantic partnership had improved since Obama became president doubled in Europe (to 41 percent) and tripled in the US (to 31 percent).Read full article here
|