Aussie blogger Tim Blair is not getting it done! This Times story is enough to make men chunder:
A poll released Monday in Australia, long known for friendly relations with Americans, found that only 58 percent of the population had a positive view of the United States.
That put the United States behind China (69 percent positive), and not even in the overall Top 10 countries, regions or groups that Australians respect. They have a more positive opinion of France (66 percent) and the United Nations (65 percent), according to the poll, which was commissioned by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a research institute with a generally center-right orientation.
The AP Lead:
Most Australians consider U.S. foreign policy to be as threatening as Islamic fundamentalism, according to a survey released Monday.
More than two-thirds of respondents, 68 percent, said Australia takes ``too much notice'' of the United States when setting its foreign policy agenda, and 57 percent judged U.S. foreign policy to be as much of a threat as Islamic fundamentalism.
The Executive Summary has other gloomy news, However, we also find this in the main report:
Despite our ambivalent attitudes towards the United States and its foreign policies, Australians still recognise the importance of our security alliance for Australia ’s international security.A clear majority (72%) think the alliance is either ‘very important ’or ‘fairly important ’. Even those who expressed negative feelings towards the United States feel safer with our alliance in place:53%think the alliance is either ‘very important ’or ‘fairly important ’.Of those who expressed positive feelings towards the United States,86%see the alliance as either ‘very important ’ or ‘fairly important ’.
Well, we still love 'em. So what can we do to help, Tim? We are already sending a good-will ambassador.
UPDATE: Let's hear from Aussie Tim Dunlop.
Incidentally, I'm still waiting for the first member of the Reality-Based Community to notice that the survey does NOT actually show that "57 percent judged U.S. foreign policy to be as much of a threat as Islamic fundamentalism."
Posted by: Paul Zrimsek | March 30, 2005 at 06:50 PM