More than half of Lebanese see US in positive light, Pew poll reveals
More than half of the Lebanese population views the United States favorably, according to a recent poll. A total of 55 percent of Lebanese questioned by researchers at the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project said they saw the US in a positive light, a marked increase from 36 percent in 2002.
Researchers noted marked differences among Lebanon’s religious groups, with Sunni Muslims citing greater confidence in Obama than their Christian or Shiite Muslim counterparts – “Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Sunni Muslims … say they have at least some confidence in Obama, compared with 46 percent of Christian and just 26 percent” of Shiites.
According to the survey, released on Thursday, the findings fit in with growing international confidence with the Obama administration. “In many countries opinions of the United States are now about as positive as they were at the beginning of the decade before George W. Bush took office,” the pollsters found.
Although Obama’s election saw the US image improve in many areas of the world, a number of Middle Eastern and Muslim countries still view the United States with suspicion, the survey said. “Animosity toward the US, however, continues to run deep and unabated in Turkey, the Palestinian territories and Pakistan.”
The survey queried nearly 27,000 people from 25 countries between May 18 and June 16, including 1,000 Lebanese.
“Israel stands out in the poll as the only public among the 25 surveyed where the current US rating is lower than in past surveys,” the survey said, citing a seven percent decrease in US standing since 2007.
Despite increased confidence in the US and Obama, the majority of Lebanese (68 percent) say they do not believe Obama will consider their country’s national interests, and 63 percent are skeptical his Middle East policies will be “fair.”
More Lebanese see the US as an enemy (33 percent) than a partner (27 percent), although a considerable number (37 percent) said they saw Washington as neither.
“The only two publics in which majorities consider the US an enemy are the Palestinian Territories (77 percent) and Pakistan (64 percent),” the pollsters said.
The survey also sought opinions on Islamic extremism. Lebanese respondents were found to have decreasing support for Osama Bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist group, whose popularity here shrank 16 percent from 2003 to a mere four percent today. Some 51 percent of Lebanese said they were “very concerned” about Islamic extremism in their country.
Lebanon also showed a dramatic change in its Muslim citizens’ attitudes to whether suicide bombings could ever be justified. Answering that question in 2002, 74 percent of Lebanese Muslims answered yes; current figures have dropped to 38 percent.
Like many of the other countries polled, the Lebanese were found to strongly support the closure of Guantanamo Bay, a notorious US military prison in Cuba used to detain terror suspects. A total of 91 percent of Lebanese respondents called for the camp’s closure, as did 82 percent in France and 93 percent of Palestinians.
Respondents were asked for their views on the swine flu pandemic, with 52 percent of Lebanese saying they were “somewhat or very worried” about exposure to the virus.
The Pew survey also assessed attitudes toward the environment, family life, US and NATO operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the financial crisis and globalization. It had an error margin of three percent.