Six Years Into Bush: United States Never More Unpopular

A new BBC poll, covering 26,381 respondents across 25 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States) presents some bad news. Opposition to US foreign policy has reached record levels.

Overall, 29 percent think the US plays a positive role in the world, and 49 percent say negative. And only 57 percent of Americans give a positive appraisal (down 14 percent from even 2 years ago). The issues are quite clear:

War in Iraq: 73 percent disapprove (57 percent in US)

Guantanamo: 67 percent disapprove (50 percent in US)

Israel-Hezbollah: 65 percent disapprove (50 percent in US)

Approach to Iran's nuclear program: 60 percent disapprove (50 percent in US)

Global warming: 56 percent disapprove* (54 percent in US)

Approach to North Korea's nuclear program: 54 percent disapprove (43 percent in US)

* There was a big cross-country divide on this one. Developed countries like France and Germany were more opposed to the inaction on global warming than elsewhere (80 percent).

Thank you, George W. Bush.