Global Image of U.S. Improves Slightly

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/13pew.html?hp

PARIS — There is good news and bad news for President Bush as he pursues his valedictory tour of Europe this week, according to a new worldwide study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. The image of the United States has improved slightly in many countries over the past year, the poll results show. But the new optimism appears to be driven largely by the fact that Mr. Bush will soon be leaving office.

Meanwhile, the survey showed that many across the globe blamed the United States at least in part for slumping economies and global warming.

“There has been no sea change in worldviews of the United States,” Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, said of the results, which were released Thursday. “Europeans are still much more negative than they were at the beginning of the decade, and highly negative views prevail in the Muslim world. But there are some indications that the world sees the possibility of change with the prospect of a new president.”

The 24-nation survey, conducted in March and April, shows that many people who have been following the presidential race have greater confidence in Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, than in his Republican rival, Senator John McCain, “to do the right thing regarding world affairs.” This feeling is strongest in Europe, Australia, Japan and Tanzania, which borders Kenya, the homeland of Mr. Obama’s father.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. It's an Obama bump. nt