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What the World Thinks of America

Categories: Americas, Central Asia & Caucasus, Middle East & North Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico, Democratic Party, International Relations, Media & Internet

More and more Americans are looking outside the box to see what the rest of the world thinks about the their country and the role it plays in the lives of millions worldwide. Here are two projects which ventured outside the US to poll international citizens for their views.

Current‘s Collective Journalism [1] came up with The View from Over There, in which Americans travelled around the world asking people about America's standing in the world:

The team travelled to 14 countries, where they listened to people who shared their views on what they think of America. According to Current:

Has America's image been tarnished by the last eight years? Democrats seem to think so, and increasingly so do some Republicans. Collective Journalism contributors around the world work to gauge America's image abroad, as US policymakers struggle to maintain positive feeling in spite of ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In response to this post, Amber-Doll2011 writes:

Luckily they aren't the one's voting for our President. Anyhow, you notice that most middle-eastern people would vote for Obama, or the one's who haven't done much research want him. But anyway, America is the one who'll vote, and we'll just see how our reputation will look after either one of them take office. I'm sure we'll hate the President then too because we care too much about what others think. We just need to get over ourselves. Haha.

Steev disagrees, saying:

Maybe everyone in the world should get to vote for the U.S. president. Since the U.S. pretty much runs the world, perhaps they should all get a say. Otherwise it's really an empire, not a democracy, no?

For more reactions, click here [1].

PBSFrontline World [2] is also carrying an election special entitled: The World in Watching.

This article [3], for instance, sheds light on how Mexicans view the election:

Mexicans are watching the U.S. presidential race, with polls showing a split along socio-economic lines that mirrors that of Mexican society itself. But the vast majority of Mexicans surveyed recently say they support the Democratic Party, with many saying initially preferred Hillary Clinton as the nominee. But the same polls say Barack Obama now enjoys tremendous support in Mexico.

More coverage can be found here [2].