WASHINGTON (AFP) — Democrat Barack Obama's bid to become the first African-American US president has raised hopes in Europe and Africa, where majorities foresee a positive change in US foreign policy, a survey suggested on Thursday.
While Obama received more positive marks overall than his Republican rival John McCain among the 24 countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes project, not all looked forward to improvement with November's election.
"Excepting countries that are extremely anti-American, the Muslim countries, we find most people saying that they think that the next president will represent a change for the better with respect to foreign policy," said Pew president Andrew Kohut.
At least one-third of respondents in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan anticipated that US foreign policy would change for the worse with a new US president, no matter who is elected, while the number of those expecting a positive change ranked 30, 25 and 19 percent respectively.
In contrast, more than two thirds of respondents in France, Spain, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Germany saw change for the better.
When it came specifically to Obama, a 46-year-old Illinois senator and son of a Kenyan father and white American mother, the highest confidence ratings came from Tanzania and France (84 percent), Germany (82), Australia (80), Japan (77) and Britain (74).
"People around the world who have been paying attention to the American election express more confidence in Barack Obama than John McCain to do the right thing regarding world affairs," the report said.
"McCain is rated lower than Obama in every country surveyed, except for the United States where his rating matches Obama's, as well as in Jordan and Pakistan where few people have confidence in either candidate."
Obama's lowest ratings were seen in Turkey, where 62 percent said they had little or no confidence that Obama would do the right thing in world affairs. Even more Turks said the same of McCain (71 percent).
Reflecting a negative view of future US policy no matter who becomes president, 60 percent in Jordan, 60 percent in Lebanon, and 58 percent in Egypt gave similar low confidence ratings for Obama and McCain (69 in Lebanon, 61 in Egypt, 58 in Jordan).
"In particular, the poll found very strong opinions about Barack Obama," said Kohut.
"I think that there is a high set of expectations for Barack Obama, perhaps because he is associated with the Democrats in opposition to Iraq and perhaps because of his personal appeal. He seems very well regarded," he said.
"The problem with an anticipatory bump is that if expectations are not met the numbers can go in the other direction."
The survey, taken of more than 24,000 people in 24 countries between March 17 to April 21, found an overall rise in favorable view of the United States, compared to last year.
"Overall, opinions of the United States are most positive in South Korea, Poland, India and thee three African countries surveyed this year -- Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa," the report said.
Positive views of America declined by 11 percent in Japan (from 61 percent in 2007 to 50 percent in 2008) and by nine percent in Mexico (56 to 47 percent).
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