US: US president George Bush's six years in office have so damaged the image of the US that people worldwide see Washington as a bigger threat to world peace than Tehran, according to a global poll.
The Washington-based Pew Research Centre, in a poll of 17,000 people in 15 countries between March and May, found more concerned about the US presence in Iraq than about Iran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions.
The Pew Centre said: "Despite growing concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the US presence in Iraq is cited at least as often as Iran - and in many countries much more often - as a danger to world peace."
The survey, carried out annually, shows a continued decline in support for the US since 1999. The US image for most of the 20th century has been positive, regularly identified with democracy, human rights and openness in spite of criticism from the left, which reached a height during the Vietnam War, and a residual suspicion in the Muslim world.
But even in the UK, Washington's closest ally, favourable ratings have slumped from 83 per cent in 1999 to 56 per cent this year. The pattern is similar in France, down from 62 per cent to 39 per cent, Germany 78 per cent to 37 per cent, and Spain 50 per cent to 23 per cent.
In Muslim countries with which the US has traditionally enjoyed a good relationship, such as Turkey - a member of Nato - and Indonesia, there have also been slumps. In Indonesia, favourable ratings for the US have dropped from 75 per cent to 30 per cent, and in Turkey from 52 per cent to 12 per cent.
"It's all [ because of] Iraq," said Carroll Doherty, associate director of the Pew Centre.
He added: "Short-term measures do have an effect. The outpouring of US tsunami aid helped in Indonesia and India but that faded quickly, and now we see US aid for Pakistan earthquake victims only helping at the margins." Favourable ratings of the US in India dropped over the year from 71 per cent to 56 per cent.
Mr Doherty said US domestic polling indicated that Americans were well aware of how the country was perceived abroad.
The US image has become a political issue, with Republicans saying it doesn't matter as long as the correct policies are being pursued overseas, while Democrats say repairing the country's image and relationships will be a priority for the next president in 2009.
The poll provides little comfort for Condoleezza Rice, who has worked hard at improving relations with Europe since becoming secretary of state last year. As part of the overall decline in US support, the survey records a drop in support for the US-led "war on terror" - even in countries such as Spain, in spite of the Madrid bombings two years ago by al-Qaeda. Support for the "war on terror" dropped in Spain from 26 per cent last year to 19 per cent this year.
Throughout the period the poll was conducted, the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme was repeatedly in the news. Iraq, too, has been in the news on a daily basis, with the formation of a new Iraqi government being accompanied by fears of a civil war.
Only in the US and Germany is Iran seen as a greater danger than the US in Iraq. Public opinion in 12 of the other countries - Britain, France, Spain, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, India and China - cite the US presence in Iraq as the greater danger. Opinion in Japan was evenly divided.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also high on the list of issues that present a danger to world peace. - (Guardian service)