Most Europeans Think Bush is Dangerous
October 23 2003
A majority of Europeans (57%) feel that the policies of President George W. Bush have 'made the world a more dangerous place to live' according to a new poll conducted by TNS for CNN/TIME. More than a third say their feelings about the US are more negative than a year ago, although a slight majority say they have not changed.
The Belgians (69%), Swiss (69%) and Dutch (67%) are most likely to consider Bush's policies as dangerous, whereas only around one half think this in Spain, Britain and Italy. Just seven per cent of people across all countries surveyed feel that President Bush's policies have made the world safer.
| Q: Do you think the policies of the US President George W. Bush have made the world a safer place, a more dangerous place or no different? |
| 11-country average | Britain | France | Germany |
| A safer place | 7% | 11% | 2% | 7% |
| A more dangerous place | 57% | 52% | 62% | 58% |
| No different | 31% | 31% | 31% | 34% |
| Don't know | 6% | 6% | 5% | 2% |
About half those surveyed (51%) feel that the US 'only acts in its own interests' and just one in nine (11%) feels that the US has 'the rest of the world's best interests at heart'.
These views were most widely supported in Finland, France and Switzerland where more than two-thirds of people believe that the US acts in its own interests (71 per cent in Finland, 66 per cent in France and Switzerland). In the UK and Denmark the figure is only just over a third (36% and 35% respectively).
35% of Europeans feel more negatively towards the US than they did 12 months ago and just 5% more positively. The Netherlands (41%), Spain (42%), Finland (43%) and Switzerland (46%) are most negatively affected, whereas in Britain only 20% of people have a more negative perception now.
According to Marita Carballo, Global Head of TNS Polling & Social, 'America's recent actions on the world stage to fight the war on terror have had major repercussions on the perception others hold of America around the world... The US continues to be seen as a country absorbed in pursuing its own agenda, rather than acting in the interest of others'.
TNS interviewed representative samples of approximately 1,000 adults between 17th September and 7th October 2003 in each of the eleven countries - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
