America has long fascinated the world with its military might, its status as the top global economy, and its soft power. No other country can boast such a combination of strengths.
But does being the world’s top dog militarily, economically, and in soft power such as Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Disneyland, and landing astronauts on the moon always command global respect?
Recent history shows that global respect for America is not endless. Opinion surveys over the years point to a clear pattern that America’s image ebbs and flows depending on who the president is.
The world sympathized with the United States after the 2001 terrorist attacks. But George W Bush, the president at the time, squandered this sympathy by invading Afghanistan and Iran and launching a so-called war on terror. The 2007-2008 US financial crisis which spread globally further tarnished America’s image.
Global respect bounced back after Barack Obama succeeded Bush as president in 2009. A Pew Research Center poll showed most of the 25 countries surveyed had a favorable view of the US during Obama’s presidency except for Israel, where the rating was lower than in previous years.
America’s global reputation nosedived, especially among the country’s Western allies, when Donald Trump succeeded Obama in 2017. It quickly regained its global reputation after Joe Biden defeated Trump in the November 2020 election but fell somewhat in the later years of Biden’s presidency.
Trump shattered America’s global image soon after starting his second term last year. His threats to seize Greenland and to make Canada part of the US, and his scolding of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenski in the Oval Office on live TV appalled America’s Western allies.
Greenland and Canada, like the US, are NATO members. And Ukraine, an aspiring NATO member, is still engulfed in war after Russia invaded in 2022. Trump’s global tariffs convinced many countries, especially American allies, that the US is no longer a reliable partner and they needed to deepen ties with other countries, including China.
A Pew survey of 24 countries last June, six months after Trump began his second term, found only about one-third of the people polled had confidence in Trump as a world leader. Most of those polled described Trump as dangerous and arrogant.
Most of the 24 countries in the survey, including Mexico, Canada, the UK, Sweden, and Germany, had a negative view of Trump’s America. Mexico’s negative view was at 91 percent. Only five countries – Nigeria, Kenya, Israel, Hungary, and India – had a favorable view of the US.
Future surveys will likely show Trump’s war of choice with Iran as another blow to America’s global image. It is often said the US always bounces back from adversities such as stock market crashes and the Covid pandemic. Surveys have shown popular presidents can quickly revive America’s global image.
But many political analysts believe Trump’s policies have driven such a deep wedge between the US and other countries, especially its allies, that regaining full trust in America will be a long process, even if possible.
Michael Chugani is a longtime journalist who has worked in Hong Kong, the US, and London
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
