Global Verdict on Obama’s Crumbling Foreign Policy

Helle Dale / October 02, 2012

Recent survey results show that the Obama Administration’s foreign policy has been unsuccessful in the promotion of America and in improving hostile relationships, especially in the Middle East.

What’s more, polls taken by Transatlantic Trends 2012 show that the disapproval of the current Administration continues to grow.

Directly linked to the approval (or disapproval) of Obama’s international policies is favorability toward the United States. Barack Obama rode to victory in 2008 declaring that he would improve relations with the Middle East. Fast forward four years, and favorability toward America in Middle Eastern countries among (nominally, at least) U.S. allies such as Jordan (12 percent), Pakistan (12 percent), and Egypt (19 percent) is lower than it was during the Bush Administration.

In addition to the Transatlantic Trends poll, a Pew Global Attitudes Project report in June showed that confidence in Obama has decreased internationally—in some cases, dramatically.

Not that currying favor abroad should be the top priority for a U.S. President, but in this case, what is so striking is that the numbers have plummeted in countries to whom Obama has tried to cozy up.

In China, approval of Obama’s leadership has plummeted from 57 percent to a dismal 27 percent. In Russia, it has decreased from 40 percent to 22 percent. And, as recent events can attest, in Muslim countries, approval is getting close to rock bottom, with a decline from 34 percent to 15 percent in the last three years.

Obama rose to “celebrity status” on the promise to restore America’s reputation in the world, but he has fueled the fire of anti-Americanism around the world by his repeated apologies for the U.S. and its founding values. He has given credibility to the view that the U.S. is no longer the global superpower that promotes freedom around the world but a declining power that must apologize for its past transgressions.