US global image improves under Obama

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The latest survey of over 20 nations shows US President Barack Obama's popularity has boosted his country's image abroad.

US President Barack Obama rolls up his shirt sleeves while speaking during a town hall meeting on healthcare at Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, outside of Cleveland.(AFP/Saul Loeb)

Positive opinions about the US have returned to levels not seen since before George W. Bush took office in 2001.

Pew Research Center, a non-partisan research institute, conducted the survey this spring. The Pew report found an average of 71 percent of respondents have at least some confidence in Obama's handling of world affairs. In 2008, when Bush was in the White House, the figure was only 17.

The center says the most profound shifts come from Western Europe, notably in France and Germany.

Andrew Kohut, President of PEW Research Ctr, said, "The US favorability rating has increased markedly in Western Europe, in major countries of Asia, Latin America. In Germany, for example, 30 percent last year said they have a favorable view of the United States. This year it's 64 percent."