Rice: U.S. is still ?very well-regarded? in terms of ?popularity.?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on December 10th, 2008 5:33 am by HL
Rice: U.S. is still ?very well-regarded? in terms of ?popularity.?
In an interview with CBS today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked how the U.S. image has fared under President Bush. Rice acknowledged that there were “some negative perceptions” but added that the U.S. is still quite popular: But I’m always a little puzzled to find the two most populous countries in the world […]
In an interview with CBS today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked how the U.S. image has fared under President Bush. Rice acknowledged that there were “some negative perceptions” but added that the U.S. is still quite popular:
But I’m always a little puzzled to find the two most populous countries in the world — China and India – even if you want to take the test of popularity, which by the way, I don’t think is the issue, but even if you wanted to take the test of popularity, the United States is very well regarded.
“Among several of America’s traditional allies, support has fallen steeply since 2002,” Pew noted in 2006. An April 2008 BBC poll of 17 countries found that views of US influence in the world are “predominantly negative”:
A November National Intelligence Council report predicted that U.S. influence will decline over the next two decades as China and India gain clout.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:59 am
What Rice understood, and what Obama will find out to his sorrow, is that Machiavelli’s oldest rule still holds out: it is always better to be feared than loved. We are still admired and respected in India, less so in China.
The Europeans have their own issues, but to be blunt, they don’t count anymore, and haven’t for some time.