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November 20, 2005

Pew Centre Report

In foreign media, much has been made of the Pew Research Centre's recent report entitled "America's Place in the World" (Nov. 17).

Many of the findings of this poll are revealing, including evidence of an attrition in the support of democracy-building projects, and similar erosion in the backing of US hegemony. In general, the report concludes that,

As the Iraq war has shaken the global outlook of American influentials, it has led to a revival of isolationist sentiment among the general public. Fully 42% of Americans say the United States should "mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own."

The Economist points out that optimism is waning on the part of both the elites and the hoi polloi. This is a rare conflation, the article avers, last observed during Vietnam. It adds that though Bush can dismiss the sentiments of the elites, it cannot "dismiss the public's growing desire not to have to deal with the sort of people who strap bombs to themselves and blow up wedding parties."

After giving an exposition on prior American perceptions of Iraq, an Al-Jazeera analysis asks, exasperatingly, "how deep into the Iraq quagmire do they have to dig themselves before they collectively decide that it's time to dig themselves out?"

It is interesting to note that while US media seems to be depicting this poll as a significant blow to the current handling of the Iraq War, the overwhelming majority of foreign media still question even the extant American optimism (as is in the case of this Canadian reaction).

Posted November 20, 2005 10:51 PM

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