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Environment and U.S. policy top global fears

Simon Tisdall

Growing numbers of people worldwide view environmental problems, pollution, infectious diseases, nuclear proliferation and the widening gap between rich and poor as the most menacing threats facing the planet, according to a 47-nation survey published on Wednesday by the U.S.-based Pew Global Attitudes Project.

The survey, which conducted more than 45,000 interviews, finds that global opinion is increasingly wary of the world’s dominant countries but also unimpressed by aspiring leaders in Iran and Venezuela who challenge the international status quo. In contrast, the United Nations receives strong support.

The United States comes in for sharp criticism. “Global distrust of American leadership is reflected in increasing disapproval of the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy,” the survey says. “Not only is there worldwide support for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq but there is also considerable opposition to U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan ... The U.S. image remains abysmal in most Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia and continues to decline among the publics of America’s oldest allies.”

Nine per cent of Turks, 13 per cent of Palestinians and 15 per cent of Pakistanis take a favourable view of the U.S. In Germany, the figure is 30 per cent, 39 per cent in France, and 51 per cent in Britain — all down on previous surveys. In an implicit rejection of the Bush administration’s “freedom agenda,” the survey also finds “a broad and deepening dislike of American values and a global backlash against the spread of American ideas and customs. Majorities or pluralities in most countries surveyed say they dislike American ideas about democracy.”

And among key allies in western Europe, the view that the U.S. unilaterally ignores the interests of other countries is deep-rooted.

Rising alarm about environmental problems registers across the board. Thirty-seven per cent of Americans name the issue as the top global threat, up 14 per cent in five years. In Britain, the figure is 46 per cent. —

Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007

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