U.S. now most admired nation on the planet
The United States is the most admired country globally thanks largely to the star power of President Barack Obama and his administration, according to a new poll.
It climbed from seventh place last year, ahead of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan which completed the top five nations in the Nation Brand Index (NBI).
“What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States for 2009,” said Simon Anholt, the founder of NBI, which measured the global image of 50 countries each year.
He believes that during the previous administration of George W. Bush the United States suffered in the world ranking with its unpopular foreign policies but since Obama was elected, and despite the recent economic turmoil, the country’s status has risen globally.
“There is no other explanation,” Anholt said in an interview, referring to the impact of Obama.
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307 comments Add your comment
GEORGE AMERICAN
October 6th, 2009
2:20 pm
WELL IF HE’S SO GREAT, WHY COULDN’T HE GET THE OLYMPICS???
AMERICA WAS THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH WHILE BUSH WAS PRESIDENT. USA#1
IT IS STILL THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH, DESPITE THE INCOMPITENT MORON IN THE WHITEHOUSE!!!
Paul
October 6th, 2009
2:21 pm
Interesting.
Aside from the manner of engagement, the policies are pretty much what they were under President Bush.
But hey, if image works to our advantage…. thank you, President Obama!
RollerGirl
October 6th, 2009
2:25 pm
GAG ME WITH A SPOON!
When my competitors and enemies start to applaud the new boss it usually means they think he is better for their botom line and worse for ours.
It’s also quite pathetic and embaressing to have public officials running around screaming “they like us, they really really like us!”
Luckily I never gave a damn what others think about me
Yadro
October 6th, 2009
2:29 pm
It is ranked 13th on best countries to live in rankings this year. He didn’t get the Olympics because the IOC wanted to make sure he was still there to accept the loser bid certificate and see his face. The other countries admire us because of our President but they are not here to witness the corruption of his administration.
Taxpayer
October 6th, 2009
2:30 pm
Awwww. The world likes us now that we aren’t being run into the ground by a pack of war mongering family valued conservatives. Who’d ‘ve thought!
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
October 6th, 2009
2:32 pm
The United States is the most admired country globally thanks largely to the star power of President Barack Obama and his administration, according to a new poll.
So what does that mean, exactly?
That nations can press on with their plans to build nuclear weapons and destroy other countries, that they can drop the dollar as the preferred world currency, they can scheme and plot their neighbors, they can drastically increase the size of their militaries?
It says more about bookman than it does the US, that he would seek solace in such meaningless gibberish.
Joey
October 6th, 2009
2:32 pm
Most admired?
People vote for the most admired country every day with their feet (or ship or airline or car). I would guess using those votes we have been the most admired country for a few hundred years.
jt
October 6th, 2009
2:34 pm
Enter your comments here
Reuters admits to more image manipulation
News organization withdraws photograph of Israeli fighter jet, admits image was doctored, fires photographer. Reuters pledges ‘tighter editing procedure for images of the Middle East conflict’
Yaakov Lappin
Published: 08.07.06, 17:15 / Israel News
Reuters has withdrawn a second photograph and admitted that the image was doctored, following the emergence of new suspicions against images provided by the news organization. On Sunday, Reuters admitted that one of its photographers, Adnan Hajj, used software to distort an image of smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut in order to create the effect of more smoke and damage.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3287774,00.html
Popularity and 6 yuan will get you a six-pack. Not on Sunday.
SOUTHERN ATL
October 6th, 2009
2:36 pm
What a difference a couple of months can make!!!! Who would have ever thought??????
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
October 6th, 2009
2:37 pm
Hell, this is a survey on our capitalist reputation, hahahahaha
Nation branding is a field of theory and practice which aims to measure, build and manage the reputation of countries (closely related to place branding). Some approaches applied, such as an increasing importance on the symbolic value of products, have led countries to emphasise their distinctive characteristics. The branding and image of a nation-state “and the successful transference of this image to its exports – is just as important as what they actually produce and sell.”
There is increasing interest in the concept from poorer states on the grounds that an enhanced image might create more favorable conditions for foreign direct investment, tourism, trade and even political relations with other states.
“Political relations” is an afterthought.
Bosch
October 6th, 2009
2:39 pm
We’re Number One! We’re Number One! Suck on that France!
Brad Steel
October 6th, 2009
2:41 pm
So what does that mean, exactly?
It also means that those countries will be able to willy-nilly sap and impurify the precious bodily fluids of the American people with fluoridated water.
Fear for your lives!!! And your fluids!!!
USinUK
October 6th, 2009
2:42 pm
they like us … they really like us …
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
October 6th, 2009
2:44 pm
The libs finally got some good news, foreigners like Campbell Soup (TM) hahahahahaha
USinUK
October 6th, 2009
2:47 pm
Bosch –
“Suck on that France”
who actually LIKES france, that’s what I want to know? they’re pretty much universally reviled on this side of the pond (oh, yeah, we like their food and wine … )
Bosch
October 6th, 2009
2:47 pm
every mother’s son,
If you should show up here – and when your boy can top this, let me know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBhv-wlb270
Gandalf, the Wise
October 6th, 2009
2:48 pm
Let no crisis go un-exploited…LET USE THIS NEW FOUND AFFECTION TO COVER OUR NUKIN’ IRAN AND NORTH KOREA!
AmVet
October 6th, 2009
2:50 pm
More bad PR news for the Connecticut “cowboys” (I’m still laughing about that moronic characterization earlier today) and the conned.
Another eight years of continued disastrous neo-con control and we would have been right there with Iran at number 50.
And an added benefit is that the West Wing no longer smells like sulfur!
BWA!
mike
October 6th, 2009
2:50 pm
Gee, you think having the world’s most dominant media working as slavishly to puff Obama as they were to trash Bush has anything to do with it?
As every policy of Bush’s was defined in the most negative context, so is Obama’s defined in the most positive context, even if it is the exact same policy.
If anything, this poll demonstrates that all of the silly whining about the “permanent damage to America’s reputation” was just that: silly.
Gandalf, the Wise
October 6th, 2009
2:50 pm
We didn’t get the Olympics cuz the took Michelle to the meeting. IOC took one look at her, though about the babes in thongs on the beaches of South America and it was a no brainer. Ugly lost Chicago the Olympics.
jt
October 6th, 2009
2:51 pm
Enter your comments here
They have to look after their stock-holders.
“Washington, D.C. – Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, has launched a new federal government initiative that will work across the entire company, developing information solutions and services tailored to the unique needs of U.S. government customers. It will draw on existing legal, scientific, tax and other specialized products in an expanded approach to serving an increasingly important, highly specialized customer base for the company.”
http://thomsonreuters.com/content/press_room/corp/corp_news/324492
mike
October 6th, 2009
2:51 pm
This blog software is atrocious.
Gandalf, the Wise
October 6th, 2009
2:51 pm
AMVET, it smells like Cigarettes, Barry is smoking in that Oval Office!
Gandalf, the Wise
October 6th, 2009
2:52 pm
Who cares what the rest of the world thinks? We are America!
AmVet
October 6th, 2009
2:55 pm
Good one, wizard.
Kools?
What a tobacco addicted numbskull…
Midori
October 6th, 2009
2:55 pm
So Bosch, Paul –
what’s the “blue plate special” today?
Bosch
October 6th, 2009
2:55 pm
USinUK,
Well, I’m kind of partial to their kisses, but that’s for another blog.
And not too many bands will ever be big enough to fill the Georgia Dome, because maybe they aren’t as awesome as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7COntXhPcI&feature=related
Even after 30+ years.
Gandalf, the Wise
October 6th, 2009
2:56 pm
Anybody ever put chocolate in their Chili?
mike
October 6th, 2009
2:57 pm
A real comunist actually did his own analysis on this subject instead of just copying and pasting a Reuters account of a polling company’s press release:
“Likewise, a Pew survey showed that approval of America has jumped to 75 percent in France and 69 percent in Britain. But the comparable figures were 63 percent and 75 percent, respectively, in the second year of George W. Bush’s administration, and we all know where the numbers went from there. It merely may be that new American presidents tend to enjoy a honeymoon in foreign opinion.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/opinion/03miller.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=who%20cares&st=cse
Combine that with the fact that the poll that Jay cites shows America as #1 in 2005 (two years after the Iraq War began) and the notion that new presidents have a honeymoon period in foreign policy sure make sense. It was the case here in America for a little while too.
Jack
October 6th, 2009
2:58 pm
Idiocy in the form of a political essay is still an idiocy.
RollerGirl
October 6th, 2009
2:58 pm
JT, good reporting,..i looked for it on the AJC but i guess they couldnt find space to include it due to the 24/7 coverage of where rap stars are eating and the real atlanta housewives ‘dis-spectin’ murder at the body tap.
We now take you to Reuters Auschwitz correspondent mohammed q. hussein, in 1941..”Ther is nothing to see here!, The zionists are happy and gardening!”
Bosch
October 6th, 2009
2:59 pm
Midori,
I say chili!
Maybe I won’t get lazy tonight.
Gandalf,
Nope, but I’ve put chili powder in hot chocolate before – it’s pretty tasty.
GEORGE AMERICAN
October 6th, 2009
2:59 pm
ON THE PLANET? TRY IN THE UNIVERSE!!!
AND REAL AMERICANS COULD CARE LESS WHAT THE REST ON THE WORLD THINKS. WE DON’T CARE. THEY CAN PIZZ-OFF!!! WHO NEEDS ‘EM???
AMER-I-CAN AND REAL AMER-I-CANS ARE #### ONE !!!!
Midori
October 6th, 2009
2:59 pm
Gandalf,
remember Justin Wilson, the Cajun Chef?
I have a couple of his cookbooks, and one of his recipes for Chili does call for chocolate.
Never tried it tho.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
October 6th, 2009
2:59 pm
Score a point for mike.
mike
October 6th, 2009
3:00 pm
The summation of the article I cited above says it all:
“Rather, history suggests that there is only one sure way for President Obama to ensure the popularity of the United States abroad: reduce the power of the United States or simply don’t exercise it — either militarily, economically or even diplomatically. The world simply distrusts the big guy on the block, and the only way to address this is to stop behaving like a superpower. A much better option, of course, would be to pay less attention to foreign opinion surveys and more to our own ideals and interests.”
stands for decibels
October 6th, 2009
3:01 pm
jt, is there some specific connection between Reuters (who reported this story) and the company that actually sponsors the National Brands Index polling you’d like to share?
Because without it, I’m not sure what your point is.
Gandalf, the Wise
October 6th, 2009
3:01 pm
Had a buddy that swore by it, and it was some tasty chili. Not my favorite, but a good hot bowl that needed at least 3 beers to put out.
Justin Wilson, OOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Yes I do! He was my favorite!
Gandalf, the Wise
October 6th, 2009
3:03 pm
Hot chocolate and chili powder..
have to give that a try before I nix it willy nilly…
How did you decide to put chili powder in your hot chocolate is the obvious question….
USinUK
October 6th, 2009
3:04 pm
Gandalf –
Dark chocolate in chilli is meant to be fantastic – let me know how it turns out
Midori –
I used to la-la-LOVE watching Justin “hoooo-eeee” Wilson – (the kind of wine to drink is the kind of wine you like … the best advice ever)
Bosch –
good tunes … I saw them in 82 (or 83) at the Atlanta Civic Center supporting the War tour … 85 supporting the Unforgettable Fire tour in the Omni and 92 or 93 supporting Zooropa … fantastic shows, all of them …
Say What??
October 6th, 2009
3:09 pm
Birthers, Jay, birthers. Why not mix it up a bit and write an article on them.
jt
October 6th, 2009
3:09 pm
Enter your comments
Stands for decibels
October 6th, 2009
3:01 pm
jt, is there some specific connection between Reuters (who reported this story) and the company that actually sponsors the National Brands Index polling you’d like to share?
No.
And I am not quite sure of what you are sharing either.
stands for decibels
October 6th, 2009
3:10 pm
I saw them in 82 (or 83) at the Atlanta Civic Center supporting the War tour … 85 supporting the Unforgettable Fire tour in the Omni and 92 or 93 supporting Zooropa … fantastic shows, all of them …
whereas I saw them either in late ‘80 or early ‘81 supporting what I thought was a flash-in-the-pan radio hit “I will follow” on a weeknight at a local nightclub, deemed them a one-hit-wonder, didn’t think much about for some time afterwards.
(Hey, I get a few wrong, now and again.)
Stud Muffin
October 6th, 2009
3:10 pm
Yeah, and one of the most popular girls in high school was the one who dropped her pants regularly. Sound familiar?
Bosch
October 6th, 2009
3:11 pm
Gandalf,
Can’t says as how I thought of it – I think I saw some guy put it in tempered chocolate once and I was making my daughter some one night and it was right there next to the stove, so I decided to give it a try. It was good – just a pinch.
USinUK,
“85 supporting the Unforgettable Fire tour in the Omni” well whatdayaknow………!
Tray
October 6th, 2009
3:11 pm
OMG is this really a topic, how to drool over Barack? Jay Bookman has definately shown us why the AJC is going under…with topics like these? SERIOUSLY??
USinUK
October 6th, 2009
3:11 pm
dB –
whoda thunk they’d still be going strong 30 years later, these boys from the auld sod …
stands for decibels
October 6th, 2009
3:13 pm
I am not quite sure of what you are sharing either.
It just seems a little weird to be going on about reuters like that.
Forbes seemed to think it was noteworthy…
http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/05/well-liked-countries-lifestyle-real-estate-tourism-america.html
as does the CS Monitor’s global blog:
http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/10/06/new-poll-finds-obama-has-already-rebuilt-americas-global-brand/
Me? I figure it’s always nice to have some metric telling me “you done good,” I guess. Not much more than that.
USinUK
October 6th, 2009
3:13 pm
“Yeah, and one of the most popular girls in high school was the one who dropped her pants regularly”
hahahaha … you can tell stud couldn’t even have his way with the easy ones … the school bikes are NEVER the popular girls – girls don’t like them and the boys don’t want to be seen with them …
nice try, but EPIC fail on the analogy
Stud Muffin
October 6th, 2009
3:14 pm
USinUK
October 6th, 2009
3:13 pm
They never lacked for dates.