'At 7%, Pakistan's approval rate of Obama lowest among 44 countries'

Pew survey shows 14% of Pakistan gives favourable assessment of US, while 18% of Americans find Pakistan favourable.

WASHINGTON/ KARACHI: Pakistan's favorability of US president Barack Obama is the lowest among 44 surveyed countries, with an approval rating of 7%, an influential American research group said on Monday.

However, he remains popular in much of the world, except for the Middle East, where residents of every nation surveyed, except Israel, gave Obama an approval rating of 35% or below, according to Pew's sweeping survey of 48,643 adults in 44 nations.

The study also showed Obama's overall favorability has changed little since 2013, with a median of 56% expressing confidence he will "do the right thing in world affairs."

And while the US remained relatively popular, the Pew Research Center said it found widespread opposition to US eavesdropping as well as to the Pentagon's use of drones overseas.

The survey finds that two-thirds of Pakistanis are against the use of drones. However, the question regarding drones was not answered by 30% of Pakistanis.

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US drone strikes are also being increasingly opposed, including in Nato ally nations like Britain, France and Spain, according to Pew. In 37 of 44 surveyed countries, half or more of the public disapprove of drone attacks.

Pakistan names US 'biggest threat': survey 

The survey looked into top allies and threats of Asian countries of which Pakistan named the US as its biggest threat.

It found that 14% of Pakistan gave a favourable assessment of the US, while 59% opposed it – thereby coming to the conclusion that “Pakistanis are strongly anti-American”.

Furthermore, of all the Asian countries included in the survey, Pakistan was the only country in the region of which “less than half see the United States favourably”.

While Pakistanis may have a negative outlook on the US, the latter mirrors this view for Pakistan with only 18% of Americans finding Pakistan favourable.
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Two halves of the sub-continent

Pakistan’s views on neighbouring country India amount to only 13% being positive ones, whereas Bangladesh has a 70% total of positive views.

India has similar numbers of positivity for Pakistan, with just 15% of them having a positive outlook of Islamabad. Furthermore, 45% of Indians find Pakistan untrustworthy.
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Pakistan relations with China

Economic expansion in the region views China as a source of major help for growth in the region, of which Pakistan says China is good for “economic expansion” in its country.

About 49% of Pakistanis are of the view that China is favourable in terms of economic and strategic ties, and are less concerned about China’s ambitions leading to war unlike other Asian countries. However, it must be noted that 33% of Pakistan is viewed as being unlikely to express its opinion on possible border clashes with China.

In terms of respecting personal freedom, Pakistan says that China respects its people’s rights. However, Japan and South Korea disagree.

Pakistan’s neighbours, however, have a relatively negative view on the country with only Indonesia giving it a positive rating and 30% of China also viewing it in a positive light.

Pakistanis are China’s strongest supporters – 78% of Pakistan has a positive view on its neighbouring ally.
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Of Muslim countries in Asia, the survey finds that 52% of Indonesians and 50% of Bangladeshis view Pakistan positively.

Revelations of spying decreases US likeability 

German and Russian support for Obama has nosedived in the past year over revelations of spying and tensions in Ukraine.

Israelis' Obama favorability jumped 10 points year on year, to 71%, while the Chinese had a sudden infatuation with the US president, jumping 20 points to 51% favorability.

But he suffered a stark drop in Germany, Russia and Brazil, three nations where tensions with Washington have soared over the past year.

"Revelations that Washington systematically reads both Americans' and some foreigners' emails and listens in on their telephone conversations appears to have significantly damaged Obama's approval in only one European Union country: Germany," Pew reported.

Berlin, a key Washington ally on several fronts including anti-terrorism cooperation, was outraged last October when it was revealed that US spy agencies tapped the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The row escalated this month amid new revelations that German nationals were arrested on suspicion of spying for the United States, prompting German authorities to order the expulsion of the Berlin CIA station chief.

Germans' confidence in Obama dropped to 71%, seventeen points down from last year, while Brazilians' confidence in him plunged from 69% in 2013 to 52% today.

 



Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff lashed out at Washington last year over reports that US agencies snooped on her personal communications, and she canceled a state visit to Washington in October.

"Russian faith in Obama, already quite low in 2013, is down 14 points (to 15%), a likely casualty of the Ukraine confrontation," Pew said.

The US reputation for protecting individual liberties appears to have taken a hit in the wake of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's damning revelations about the extent of US surveillance.

"In 22 of 36 countries surveyed in both 2013 and 2014, people are significantly less likely to believe the US government respects the personal freedoms of its citizens," the report said.