Cairo, September 10: Europeans remain skeptical on US President Barack Obama’s policies in Afghanistan and Iran, despite a rise in the overall support of his foreign policies.
The annual Transatlantic Trends survey revealed on Thursday that 77 percent of respondents in the European Union and Turkey support Obama’s handling of foreign affairs, which is four times greater than that given to his predecessor George W Bush.
However the new survey — published by the German Marshall Fund of the United States — found serious transatlantic differences over major issues including Afghanistan, Iran and global warming.
With regard to the NATO-led operations in Afghanistan, European views remain cynical towards Obama’s expanded mission there.
Almost two thirds of Europeans were pessimistic about US plans to stabilize Afghanistan, while more than half of western Europeans and two thirds of eastern Europeans demanded a reduction or complete removal of their countries’ forces from the war-torn nation.
There were also serious disagreements between Americans and Europeans on the issue of how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.
Some 49 percent of EU and Turkish respondents ruled out the use of force on Iran, even if efforts to halt the country’s nuclear program were to fail, but agreed to increasing diplomatic pressure on Tehran.
In contrast, 47 percent of Americans favored keeping open a military option along with increasing diplomatic pressure.
On the issue of global warming, some 84 percent of Europeans said everything should be done to prevent climate change, even if those steps slowed economic growth, while only 65 percent of Americans believed so.
There was more transatlantic unity on Russia’s behavior towards its neighbors, where nearly 70 percent of Europeans and 68 percent of Americans agreed on the need to provide security guarantees to former Soviet republics like Georgia and Ukraine.
—–Agencies