Attitudes towards the United States as a country and Americans as a people are more negative in early 2004 than in 2002 and close to alltime lows.The decline in positive attitudes towards the United States and Americans is both palpable and contrary to national security. This negative view is more pronounced in attitudes towards us as a country (related to U.S. policies) than as a people (related to American values and culture). Still, as a people, while reduced majorities in Europe remain positive towards us, this is not so in Muslim countries. Majorities in those countries hold unfavorable opinions of the United States and Americans, though the intensity of anti-American views has moderated somewhat recently.

There are distinct limits as to the degree to which negative attitudes towards U.S. policies, at least in certain countries, can be mitigated. On the other hand, the broad appeal of American values and culture remains a substantial, if less than optimally deployed, asset.

It has been the job of what are now the State Department’s public diplomacy programs to improve understanding of U.S. policies and Americans.Yet, as Joseph Nye points out in the May/June 2004 issue of Foreign Affairs, the official resources available for this purpose have been slashed.The former United States Information Agency (USIA) had 12,000 employees for public diplomacy in the mid-Sixties; the State Department, which has taken over USIA’s functions, has today only 6,715 such employees.The annual number of academic and cultural exchanges has dropped from 45,000 in 1995 to 29,000 in 2001.As Nye puts it:“When Washington discounts the importance of its attractiveness abroad, it pays a steep price.” [p. 1-2]

Attitudes towards the United States as a country and Americans as a people are more negative in early 2004 than in 2002 and close to all time lows.The decline in positive attitudes towards the United States and Americans is both palpable and contrary to national security. This negative view is more pronounced in attitudes towards us as a country (related to U.S. policies) than as a people (related to American values and culture). Still, as a people, while reduced majorities in Europe remain positive towards us, this is not so in Muslim countries. Majorities in those countries hold unfavorable opinions of the United States and Americans, though the intensity of anti-American views has moderated somewhat recently.