The popularity of the United States has declined around the world, according to recent reports, attributing this to the great support provided by the Biden administration to Israel since it launched the war of extermination against the Palestinians in Gaza, which threatens the American diplomatic role in the world.
In his final statements on Sunday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called on Israel to “do everything possible to end the war,” including “bombing Gaza with nuclear bombs.” This came in comparison to the occupation's war of genocide in Gaza with his country's fighting against Japan and Nazi Germany in the 1940s of the last century.
This comes a few days after Republican members of the US Senate warned the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, against issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. They said in a letter they addressed to the court on May 6: “If you harm Israel, we will harm you!”
While this support for the genocide committed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza was not limited to Republican representatives, it also included some Democrats, as was the policy that the Biden administration has followed since the outbreak of the war on October 7, and expressed whether by militarily assisting the Israeli army, or politically opposing decisions. Security Council ceasefire, and students in solidarity with Palestine in universities are suppressed.
This American position affects the country's popularity in the world, pushing it towards decline, as recent reports and studies have revealed. This is a reality in which a number of American diplomats warned of harm that might occur to the diplomatic role that Washington plays in a number of international issues, at a time when its competition from Russia and China is increasing.
America is losing popularity around the world
In its 2024 report , published on Wednesday, May 8, the Democracy Perception Index revealed that the popularity of the United States is declining around the world, especially in the Middle East and Muslim-majority countries, due to its supportive stance against Israel in the war against... Gaza strip.
In order to formulate the results of the index, the opinions of about 63,000 people from 53 countries around the world were surveyed. The popularity of the United States decreased from 27% in 2023 to 22% in 2024. The index also added that the popularity of China and Russia witnessed an increase in many countries.
The American magazine Politico reported that America's faltering popularity, coupled with the improved ranking of Russia and China, means that the latter is now viewed as positively as the United States in most of the Middle Eastern, North African and Asian countries surveyed.
Also according to the index, the people of a number of Western countries joined the team of those with negative feelings towards Washington, which is a precedent that the Gaza war led to. According to Frederic Defoe, the senior researcher at the center who ensured the completion of the index, it is: “For the first time since the beginning of the Biden administration, opinions in many Western European countries tended towards negative perceptions towards the United States. This represents a unique signal, especially in Germany and Austria.” ".
The American magazine said that while the United States remains widely the first power in the eyes of the general public on the global stage, cracks have begun to appear among the peoples of the once powerful allied countries in Western Europe, while Russia and China are gaining popularity in other regions.
Losing its popularity even at home!
This negative feeling about Washington's decisions regarding the war in Gaza is not only external, but it is spreading internally in America as well. Opinion polls conducted by the New York Times indicated that President Biden's popularity has declined due to the way he handled the war file.
This was confirmed by other polls , which revealed that only 40% of Americans are satisfied with the president, and that 70% of voters between the ages of 18 and 34 object to the US administration’s bias towards Israel.
The American newspaper quoted a young man named Colin Loner, saying: “I do not want to vote for someone who is not in line with my personal values, which is what Biden has shown, that he is not when it comes to Gaza.” But he wondered: “Should I vote for Biden or not vote at all? This is really difficult, because if I don’t vote for Biden, I open up the possibility of Trump winning, and I really don’t want that.”
The American administration chose to go against the will of its people and obstruct ceasefire decisions in Gaza, as polls indicate that 68% of American voters support a ceasefire and ending the war. The percentage of American voters’ support for Israel, especially the Democrats, also decreased , as it moved from 31% following the October 7 attack, to 20.5% in the first week of November, a decrease of approximately 10.5%.
According to Moara Duncan, a writer specializing in American affairs in the British newspaper The Guardian, “there is increasing evidence that the Democratic Party is heading toward a revolution on this issue (Biden’s bias toward Israel),” and that “young voters are not the only ones who are angry, but even Arab and Muslim American voters.” “This puts Biden’s re-election chances at risk across the country, but especially in the crucial state of Michigan, which is the stronghold of a large Muslim voting bloc.”
Warnings and resignations in the US State Department
Since the outbreak of the war, the US State Department has witnessed widespread resignations of officials, in protest against the way it was managed by Washington diplomacy. On April 26, the Arabic-speaking spokeswoman for the US State Department, Hala Gharit, announced her resignation from her position in protest against Washington’s policy towards the Israeli war in Gaza.
Hala wrote on the social networking site LinkedIn: “I resigned in April 2024 after 18 years of distinguished service, in protest against the US policy in Gaza.”
This is at least the third resignation from the ministry due to the Israeli war in Gaza. Anil Shilin, from the Human Rights Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced her resignation a month ago, and Foreign Ministry official Josh Paul also resigned last October.
In a protest memorandum distributed by US State Department employees through the ministry’s internal channels last November, they warned that their country’s bias towards Israel “contributes to the formation of regional public perceptions that the United States is a biased and dishonest party, and at best does not work to advance American interests.” "All over the world, and in the worst cases it harms them."
According to a memorandum by American diplomats, the power of the United States is built on the quality and scope of its international alliances, or the so-called “Shield of the Republic.” This strategy is now under threat in the Middle East, with a number of Arab governments disturbed by the American bias towards Israel.
The Huffington Post website previously quoted a US State Department diplomatic official as saying: “State Department officials received warnings from their counterparts in Arab governments, who informed them that the United States was at risk of losing support in the region for an entire generation.”
It is affecting diplomacy and domestic sentiment.
ReplyDelete