Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Media Voices: If the world had a vote ... Print E-mail
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From the Washington Post, Monday, Oct. 13:

If the rest of the world had a vote, Barack Obama would be the next U.S. president. Polls and studies have shown that Europeans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians not only favor Mr. Obama overwhelmingly over John McCain but believe he will improve U.S. relations with the rest of the world.

If Mr. Obama were elected, how likely would he be to fulfill those high expectations? One caveat comes in the report of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which points out that Obamamania is largely absent in the region where U.S. influence most needs a boost: the Middle East. Only 34 percent of Lebanese, 31 percent of Egyptians and 22 percent of Jordanians said they have confidence in Mr. Obama to do the right thing in world affairs. Israel is one of the few countries in the world where at least some polls have shown Mr. McCain leading Mr. Obama. Many Israelis fear that Mr. Obama will be too soft on Iran; many Arabs predict that he will be too soft on Israel.

 

Mr. Obama's huge popularity in Western Europe seems to reflect an expectation that the Democrat would reverse the policies of President Bush. But Mr. Obama favors sending large numbers of additional troops to Afghanistan, while public opinion in every NATO country but Britain favors withdrawal. At the governmental level, some senior officials in Germany, France and Britain say that they object to Mr. Obama's plan to pursue negotiations with Iran unconditionally; the European policy has been to require Tehran first to suspend work on its nuclear program.

The outpouring of enthusiasm for Mr. Obama in places such as Berlin seems to reflect a longing to repair a broken relationship. An Obama presidency offers the possibility of building on those sentiments.
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utocoman Oct 14 2008 13:54:05
This thread discusses the Content article: media voices: If the world had a vote ...

Just another feather in the Democrats cap. The world holds out hope that the US can regain some sense of compassion, social justice and understanding that we are not an island. Most of our action/inaction affects other nations and vise versa. Bush/Cheney and the Republican party have always been about "get our's first and the rest of the country/world be damned". Democrats have often showed compassion to other people/ nations. Chew on that Keeper, Raymond and your ilk!!
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