A poll by Gallup World has found that the rating for US leadership – which, for most of the world, likely means its president, Barack Obama – jumped to 47% in Bangladesh last year.
It was 37% in 2012 and as low as 19% in 2007, the last year of George W. Bush’s presidency.
The US Global Leadership Report, a joint effort of Meridian International Centre and Gallup, was prepared to provide a comprehensive assessment of how the world residents view US leadership.
In Bangladesh, the survey was conducted from April to May last year and 47% of the respondents approved the US leadership while 24% disapproved and 30% said “don’t know” or “refused” to make comment.
The results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults – aged 15 and older – conducted in the Bangla language. In contrast, 22% respondents in India approved the US leadership while 59% disapproved last year. It was 26% in 2012.
According to the report, US leadership received 45% approval in Asia – the highest rating Gallup has ever measured in the region during both the Obama and the Bush administrations.
The US rating also went up by double digits in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Pakistan last year.
The image of US leadership may be benefiting from the administration’s attempts to strengthen its alliances and trade partnerships throughout the Asia-Pacific region, the report says.
“After hitting a low point at the end of President Barack Obama’s first term, US leadership ratings worldwide rallied in 2013 as he began his second. Median approval of US leadership across 130 countries stood at 46% last year, up from Obama’s first administration low of 41% in 2012,” it adds.
The report, however, cautions that although the image of the US leadership shows signs of rebounding last year, it will continue to face more challenges this year and beyond.
“Chief among them in the near term will be how the US and its NATO partners respond to Russia and the United States’ ongoing pursuit of a ‘rebalancing’ with Asia. These challenges make the strength of US alliances and partnerships – and the soft power of what the world thinks of the US – more important than ever,” Gallup says.