Post by macmako on Mar 23, 2010 11:38:12 GMT -5
The spectacular improvement of America’s image is the consequence of an improvement in most dimensions considered in the Index: Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment.
In the Governance dimension specifically, the fact that the United States has made significant gains is in agreement with many other surveys that have shown vast improvement in the global image of the United States since the election of President Obama. Under the presidency of Mr. Obama, who according to a 2009 WorldPublicOpinion.org poll has the confidence of many publics around the world, the U.S. now ranks 7th for competent and honest government, and 10th for respecting the rights of its citizens and treating them with fairness, contrasting to 22nd and 21st respectively in 2008. However, the U.S. still has further room for improvement for its behavior regarding international peace and security and environmental protection.
1. United States – From 7th in 2008 to 1st in 2009
Its improvement in rankings is astonishing, and there can only be one reason: Barack Obama’s election. Obama’s America is expected to mean a more responsible diplomacy, a consensus-driven foreign policy and a more conscious standing on environmental issues, all of which has been welcome by the world – thus affecting positively the United States’ position in the international stage.
With this rise, America has now been restored to its natural place, because polls show that there is a strong relationship between power in economics and powerful nation brands. As the world’s first economy, the United States’s standings (11th in 2007, 7th in 2008) were abnormally low. So it’s improvement on the 2009 ramkings is probably more about Bush leaving than Obama arriving to office. Additionally, the real change is not because of Obama himself, but because what his election says about Americans. Obama is seen mostly the same as in 2008; it’s the Americans as a people that are seen differently now. Less racist, less aggressive, less nationalist, less arrogant.
Lest we forget, there is the revivification of the ‘American Dream’, which is one of the main brand ingredients in Brand America, if not the real axis of the American national identity. The fact that a mestizo and the son of an African immigrant has had all the rights and freedoms to pursue and achieve his own goals in America is now as alive as ever before. There can’t be a more illustrative example of the American Dream in a country that prouds itself in allowing people to prosper by their own abilities only, regardless of origin, race, religion and sex.
In the Governance dimension specifically, the fact that the United States has made significant gains is in agreement with many other surveys that have shown vast improvement in the global image of the United States since the election of President Obama. Under the presidency of Mr. Obama, who according to a 2009 WorldPublicOpinion.org poll has the confidence of many publics around the world, the U.S. now ranks 7th for competent and honest government, and 10th for respecting the rights of its citizens and treating them with fairness, contrasting to 22nd and 21st respectively in 2008. However, the U.S. still has further room for improvement for its behavior regarding international peace and security and environmental protection.
1. United States – From 7th in 2008 to 1st in 2009
Its improvement in rankings is astonishing, and there can only be one reason: Barack Obama’s election. Obama’s America is expected to mean a more responsible diplomacy, a consensus-driven foreign policy and a more conscious standing on environmental issues, all of which has been welcome by the world – thus affecting positively the United States’ position in the international stage.
With this rise, America has now been restored to its natural place, because polls show that there is a strong relationship between power in economics and powerful nation brands. As the world’s first economy, the United States’s standings (11th in 2007, 7th in 2008) were abnormally low. So it’s improvement on the 2009 ramkings is probably more about Bush leaving than Obama arriving to office. Additionally, the real change is not because of Obama himself, but because what his election says about Americans. Obama is seen mostly the same as in 2008; it’s the Americans as a people that are seen differently now. Less racist, less aggressive, less nationalist, less arrogant.
Lest we forget, there is the revivification of the ‘American Dream’, which is one of the main brand ingredients in Brand America, if not the real axis of the American national identity. The fact that a mestizo and the son of an African immigrant has had all the rights and freedoms to pursue and achieve his own goals in America is now as alive as ever before. There can’t be a more illustrative example of the American Dream in a country that prouds itself in allowing people to prosper by their own abilities only, regardless of origin, race, religion and sex.