[lbo-talk] Dubya does Delhi: will the chimps make rude noises?

[Doug Henwood]

Colin Brace quoted Arundhati Roy:

>It is not in our power stop Bush's visit. It is in our power to
>protest it, and we will. The government, the police and the corporate
>press will do everything they can to minimise the extent of our
>outrage. Nothing the Happy-news Papers say can change the fact that
>all over India, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages, in
>public places and private homes, George W Bush, incumbent president of
>the United States of America, world nightmare incarnate, is just not
>welcome.

[When you're a novelist turned essayist whose primary audience is 
guilty westerners, who needs a factchecker?]

<http://pewglobal.org/commentary/display.php?AnalysisID=1002>

India: Pro-America, Pro-Bush
Bucking the Global Trend, U.S. Popularity Soared among Indians in '05
Released: 02.28.06

Looking for some good news amid the often dismal findings about 
America's image abroad? Try India. Anti-Americanism has surged in 
much of the world since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, 
but India has bucked the trend. Among Indians, America's image has 
actually improved in recent years.

Across a range of measures, Indian public opinion is consistently 
pro-American. The 2005 Pew Global Attitudes survey found that about 
seven-in-ten Indians (71%) have a favorable view of the United 
States. Of the 17 countries polled in the survey, only Americans 
themselves hold a more favorable view of their country. And while 
U.S. favorability ratings have plunged in many countries, Indians are 
significantly more positive about the United States now than they 
were in the summer of 2002, when 54% gave the U.S. favorable marks.

In the world's largest democracy, moreover, President Bush, who is 
unpopular in many countries around the globe, is also widely admired. 
Just over half (54%) of Indians say they have a lot or some 
confidence that Bush will generally do the right thing in world 
affairs, a significantly higher percentage than in any other country 
except his own. Indeed, of the 16 countries surveyed on this question 
in 2005, India was the only one, aside from the United States, in 
which a majority expressed at least some confidence in the American 
president.

By contrast, the president is viewed much more negatively in 
Pakistan, the next stop on Bush's South Asian trip. Just 10% of 
Pakistanis express a great deal or some confidence in Bush to do the 
right thing regarding world affairs. Morocco (9%), Turkey (8%), and 
Jordan (1%) were the only countries surveyed to voice less confidence 
in Bush than do the people of Pakistan.

Indians also have a strongly positive impression of the American 
people - 71% have a favorable opinion of Americans, up from 58% in 
2002. Moreover, Indians tend to associate Americans with positive 
character traits, and generally do not associate Americans with 
negative characteristics. Eight-in-ten (81%) Indians consider 
Americans hardworking, and 86% - the highest percentage of any 
country surveyed, including the U.S. itself - say Americans are 
inventive. Fewer (58%) regard Americans as honest, but even among 
U.S. respondents, Americans receive mediocre marks for truthfulness 
(63%). Meanwhile, Indians are among the least likely to associate 
Americans with negative traits such as greed, violence, rudeness, and 
immorality.

And America remains a land of opportunity for many Indians. Asked 
where they would recommend that a young person move in order to lead 
a good life, a 38% plurality of Indians choose the United States. 
This finding may seem a weak endorsement, given America's 
longstanding image as a hopeful new world for immigrants; however, in 
no other country does even a plurality recommend the U.S. to the 
hypothetical young person searching for a better life. In other 
countries, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and Germany are all more 
popular choices. After India, Poland has the second largest share of 
respondents recommending the United States - and only one-in-five 
Poles (19%) suggests America as a destination.

Favorable Views of U.S. Foreign Policy

In many countries, anti-Americanism is driven by disagreement with 
U.S. foreign policy. Perceptions of U.S. unilateralism, opposition to 
the war in Iraq, and reservations about the war on terrorism have 
fueled anti-American sentiments most dramatically in the Muslim 
world, although unpopular policies have hurt America's image in other 
regions as well. Indians, however, largely approve of the way the 
U.S. conducts itself in the international arena. For example, Indians 
are less likely than others to believe the U.S. acts unilaterally on 
the world stage - 63% of Indians say the U.S. takes into account the 
interests of other countries when making foreign policy decisions.

Having suffered terrorist attacks in their own recent history, 
including a December 2001 assault on the Indian Parliament, Indians 
tend to support the war on terrorism. Just over half (52%) favor 
U.S.-led efforts to fight terrorism, a level of support similar to 
many European countries, and significantly higher than in 
predominantly Muslim countries. As in many other countries, however, 
support for the campaign against terrorism has slipped among Indians 
since 2002, when, just months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, 
65% backed U.S. policies.

On Iraq, India is the only country other than the U.S. in which a 
plurality (45%) believes the removal of Saddam from power has made 
the world a safer place, and Indians are even less likely than 
Americans to say the Iraq war made the world more dangerous. Indians, 
however, do not regret their country's decision not to use force in 
Iraq - 75% say their government did the right thing in abstaining 
from the U.S.-led coalition.

But Indians Support Checks on U.S. Power


Despite their pro-American attitudes, Indians would like to see 
another power become as militarily strong as the United States. 
Indeed, Indians are among the most likely to favor another country or 
group of countries rising to the level of global superpower.

Still, there is less support among Indians for China becoming as 
militarily powerful as the United States. Indians are split over this 
issue, with 45% saying that if China became America's military equal 
this would be a good thing and 45% saying this would be a bad 
development. Here, India occupies something of a middle ground 
between European countries, which generally oppose the potential 
military rise of China, and majority Muslim countries such as 
Pakistan, Jordan, Indonesia, and Turkey, which generally welcome the 
idea of a strong China that could rival U.S. military strength.

Indians, however, are more supportive of Chinese economic power - 53% 
believe China's growing economy is a good thing for India. Income is 
related to views about Chinese military and economic power, as 
wealthier Indians are more worried about China becoming a military 
rival to the U.S. and more concerned about China as an economic 
threat to India.

About the Survey

In India, the survey was conducted May 1-29, 2005 among a probability 
sample of 2,042 respondents. The survey was conducted only in urban 
areas and is not representative of the entire country. Interviews 
were conducted in-person, in the appropriate local language (Hindi, 
Gujarati, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi), with adults ages 18 and 
older. The margin of sampling error for the results is plus or minus 
2%. For full topline results for each country surveyed, see the Pew 
Global Attitudes report U.S. Image Up Slightly, But Still Negative: 
American Character Gets Mixed Reviews, released June 23, 2005.