The Obama Administration’s unilateral actions in foreign countries in disregard of their national interests, particularly its frequent use of drone attacks against suspected militants, are widely opposed by people around the world, says the latest findings of survey by Pew Research Center.
The survey of international opinion about the United States’ image and its policies reveals that more than 50 percent of people in 17 out of the 21 countries disprove the Obama administration’s drone policy.
The United States regularly conducts unmanned aerial attacks against suspected militant hideouts in Pakistan’s federally administered tribal areas, which many experts see as a major reason for consistent decline in public opinion about the United States in that country.
“There remains a widespread perception that the US acts unilaterally and does not consider the interests of other countries,” Pew’s Global Attitudes Project found. The Pew Research Center found that in predominantly Muslim nations, American anti-terrorism efforts are still widely unpopular.
“And in nearly all countries, there is considerable opposition to a major component of the Obama administration’s anti-terrorism policy: drone strikes. In 17 of 20 countries, more than half disapprove of U.S. drone attacks targeting extremist leaders and groups in nations such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.”
The survey findings noted that Americans are the clear outliers on this issue – 62% approve of the drone campaign, including most Republicans (74%), independents (60%) and Democrats (58%).
In Washington, the US administration officials have not reacted immediately to findings of the survey.
But the survey findings come in the US presidential election year, as Obama seeks his re-election in the face of economic recession and a complex set of issues internationally.
Four years after his election on the wave of several unfulfilled promises, Obama faces a challenging fight from Republican candidate Mitt Romney. After years of silence, Obama’s security advisors have lately defended drone strikes publicly, describing them important to the success of counterterrorism policy aimed at debilitating al Qaeda militant organisation.
“Roughly a year after he ordered the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden, just 7% of Pakistanis have a positive view of Obama, the same percentage that voiced confidence in President George W Bush during the final year of his administration,” the survey found.
Outside of Pakistan, however, Obama consistently receives higher ratings than Bush did in 2008. This is particularly true in Western Europe and Japan, but it is also true in several predominantly Muslim nations where Obama’s ratings – while not especially high – are nonetheless more positive than his predecessor’s.
The 21-nation survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project from March 17-April 20.
