By Ken Fireman
from Bloomberg.com

June 27 (Bloomberg) — Anti-American sentiments are on the rise in many parts of the world, driven by concerns that U.S. leaders are prone to act unilaterally and have widened the gap between rich and poor nations, a new international survey found.

At the same time, global attitudes about China have also declined, with residents of many countries expressing concerns about China’s growing economic and military power, the survey concluded.

The survey of 45,239 people in 47 countries by the Washington-based Pew Research Center found “worldwide support” for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and substantial opposition to U.S. and NATO military operations in Afghanistan.

There is a question as to whether we are living up to our own values, which is what is making people question what our policies are,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said at a news conference today announcing the poll’s findings.

America’s image “has plummeted throughout much of the world” over the last five years, the center said in its report on the survey, which was conducted April 6 through May 29.

It found sharp drops in favorability among traditional allies in Western Europe, as well as substantial declines in Latin America, the Middle East and elsewhere.”

Favorable Views Decline

For example, the survey found that favorable views of the U.S. among Germans slid to 30 percent this year from 60 percent in 2002, the first year that Pew surveyed global attitudes. In Brazil, the decline was to 44 percent from 51 percent; in Jordan, to 20 percent from 25 percent; and in Indonesia, to 29 percent from 61 percent.

This is not a matter of anti-Americanism taking over the globe, but an intensification of the areas where we’ve seen problems,” said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew center.

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