BBC Poll Rating Of 16 Countries & E.U.

Those who believe in American "exceptionalism" (the idea that the United States is by far the best country in the world) are not going to like the results of the newest BBC Country Ratings Poll. The BBC does this poll each year, interviewing over 26,000 people about whether they hold a negative or positive view of 16 countries and the European Union. To be fair, the respondents living in a particular country are excluded when figuring the average percentages for each country.

As you can see from the graphic above, the United States finished in the middle of the pack -- with 6 countries and the European Union having both a higher positive rating and a lower negative rating. The U.S. was viewed positively by 45% of respondents and negatively by 34% of respondents. Last year those numbers for the U.S. was 47% positive and 33% negative (which means the U.S. has dropped a bit in the estimation of those living in other countries). Note that less than half of those living in other countries have a positive view of the U.S.

This year Germany was rated the most popular country (with a 59% positive rating and 15% negative rating). Last year Japan was the most popular country, but this year they dropped 7 points from their positive rating and added 6 points to their negative rating -- dropping them down to fourth in the rating poll. Iran was the least popular country (with a 15% positive rating and a 59% negative rating -- exactly the opposite of Germany's numbers). Iran was also the least popular last year.

Other Countries Prefer Obama's Re-Election

The last presidential debate was on foreign policy, to see whether President Obama or Willard Mitt Romney would be best for this country in its dealings with the rest of the world. Of course, this brings up the question of which candidate the rest of the world would prefer. The BBC decided to answer that question, and they polled the residents of 21 countries to get the answer.

What they found out is shown in the charts above and below. The chart above shows the countries ranked in their preference for President Obama, while the chart below shows the same countries ranked in order of their preference for Willard Mitt Romney. Note that whichever way you show the preferences, the fact is that President Obama is preferred in most countries -- and preferred by a wide margin. Only one country showed a preference for Romney -- Pakistan (which is certainly not one of our best allies). The people in all of the countries we depend on the most would rather see President Obama be re-elected.

The World Prefers Obama

The BBC World Service has just conducted a poll to see what the rest of the world thinks of the presidential race in the United States. They polled 22,500 people in 22 different countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom).

By a 4-1 margin, the average of people in all 22 countries wanted Obama to win the election. Those favoring Obama were 49% and those who favored McCain were 12% of the total. The remaining 39% did not have a preference.

Those polled were also asked if each candidate would improve or worsen relations with the rest of the world. About 46% thought Obama would improve relations, while 22% said relations would remain the same and 7% thought they would worsen. Only 20% thought relations would improve under McCain, while 37% said they would remain the same and 16% thought they would worsen.

The countries that had the most optimistic attitude about Obama improving relations with the world were Kenya-87%, Nigeria-71%, Canada-69%, Italy-64%, Australia-62%, France-62%, Germany-61%, and United Kingdom-54%. Only three countries, by a small margin, thought McCain would improve relations -- China, India and Nigeria.

At the same time the world poll was conducted, the BBC also asked 1,000 Americans the same questions. About 46% of Americans thought Obama would improve world relations, while 30% thought McCain would improve them.

Perhaps most interesting was when the world respondents were asked if the election of an African-American would "fundamentally change" their perception of the United States. 46% said it would and 27% said it wouldn't.

It's pretty obvious what the rest of the world thinks. They prefer Obama, and hope America has progressed enough to elect an African-American. They would see that as a sign the U.S. was ready to treat other countries fairly -- even those with a non-white population. Americans may not like it, but most of the world views us as racist and would welcome proof that we have changed.

It's obvious that the huge majority of Americans don't want to continue the current Republican policies. Even the Republicans can see that, and they're trying to hide their current president and vice-president from the voting public in the hope that McCain won't be tarred with the same brush. But people are not that stupid. They know McCain will continue Bush policies.

The Republicans know that both houses of Congress are lost, and they have only one hope to keep the presidency. That hope is that America is still too racist a country to elect an African-American as president.

Are we still that racist? We will find out in November.

New Poll Says Humans Causing Climate Change

Over 150 countries just met at the United Nations to discuss global climate change. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said, "If we do not act now, the impact of climate change will be devastating." It seems that world leaders are in agreement that humans are causing global climate change, and action must be taken soon to avoid disastrous consequences. But what do ordinary people think?

The BBC has just conducted a poll that answers that question. They surveyed over 22,000 people in 21 countries, including the United States. The results show that a huge majority (79%) believe that global climate change is caused by human activity. In fact, around 90% of the people believe that action should be taken to curb production of greenhouse gases, with nearly 2/3 believing that action must be taken soon.

It seems that only a tiny minority (around 10%) agree with George Bush that global climate change has not been proven. Personally, I think George believes it too -- he just can't bring himself to ask his corporate buddies to stop polluting. After all, too much money is being made by all this polluting, and it might cut into those windfall profits if corporations had to clean up their act.

But George is part of an ever dwindling minority. Over 59% in the United States believe action must be taken very soon, and another 33% believe some action must be taken in the next few years.

I don't think I've ever seen a president so out of touch with ordinary citizens. They disagree with him on the war, on how to fight terrorism, on the need for reform in medical care, and as this poll shows, they also disagree with him on global climate change. But like an ostrich, George keeps his head buried in the sand and refuses to see the real world.

It is becoming more obvious every day that we must put Democrats back in power in the next election, including a Democrat in the White House. The Republicans have had their chance, and refuse to take action to solve our problems.