Posted on 07/23/2013 9:41:52 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A protester denounces President Obama during a march near Cairo's Tahrir Square on July 7. Bitter rivals in Egypt tend to be united in opposition to the U.S. government, which has been a leading aid donor to the country for decades.Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images
To figure out which countries dislike the U.S., one quick way is to simply look at which ones are getting the largest dollops of U.S. aid.
This wasn't the focus of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. But it did emerge when Pew spoke to people in 39 countries about the U.S. and China, asking respondents if they had a favorable view of these two countries.
Overall, the U.S. fared better than China. Worldwide, 63 percent said they had a positive view of the U.S., compared with only 50 percent who said the same of China.
This general trend was true in every region except in the Middle East. There, animosity toward the U.S. runs high, and the countries getting the most American assistance also tended to be some of the most antagonistic toward the U.S.
— In Egypt, which gets $1.5 billion a year from the U.S., only 16 percent had a positive view of the U.S. We should note the Pew survey was taken this past spring, before the recent upheaval in Egypt that has unleashed a wave of anti-American invective that may well have pushed that approval rating even lower.
— Among Palestinians, who've been getting about $500 million annually, only 16 percent viewed the U.S. favorably. Bear this in mind as the U.S. attempts to restart peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, who haven't held such talks in the past three years.
— In Jordan, which receives more than $600 million a year, only 14 percent had a positive view. The aid is considered critical in a poor Arab state that is feeling extremely stretched these days with a flood of refugees from war-torn Syria.
Farther east in Pakistan, which has been getting close to $1 billion a year, a mere 11 percent think nice thoughts about the U.S. Despite decades as allies, the U.S.-Pakistan relationship has often been fraught with problems, typified by the friction in recent years as the countries have been at odds over policies toward Afghanistan.
The Goals Of U.S. Aid
None of these examples suggest cause and effect. In other words, U.S. assistance may not cause countries to dislike the U.S. But in these cases we've noted, U.S. money certainly doesn't seem to help.
Also, the correlation between getting U.S. aid and disliking the U.S. is far from absolute. To cite just one counterexample, the leading recipient of U.S. aid is Israel, which gets more than $3 billion annually, and 83 percent of Israelis surveyed had a favorable view of the U.S., making it one of the most U.S.-friendly places on the globe.
Still, the findings raise questions about what the U.S. is getting for the $50 billion or so it sends out to the rest of the world in annual assistance. This ranges from food aid in drought-stricken lands to military hardware in countries embroiled in war.
The U.S. provides aid for many reasons, and winning popularity may be nice, but it's not the main goal. The U.S. tends to provide assistance in places it considers strategically important, and they are often volatile as well.
Consider Egypt, where rival factions seem to disagree on most everything except their distrust and dislike of the U.S.
"Even longtime observers of Egyptian rhetoric have been taken aback by the vitriol and sheer lunacy of the current wave of anti-American rhetoric," Marc Lynch, who teaches international affairs at George Washington University, wrote in Foreign Policy.
U.S. law bars aid to countries where a military coup has taken place. The U.S. government has not taken a position on this question in Egypt, but so far the Obama administration has given no indication it's prepared to shut off the tap.
The Egyptian public might not like the U.S. government, but the Obama administration and the U.S. military still have a close relationship with Egypt's military, the unquestioned power broker.
Lynch urged the Obama administration to engage with the Egyptian public "even as it understands that little it says or does will make any immediate difference in Egypt's highly polarized, intensely politicized public sphere, where anti-Americanism is a surefire and cost-free political winner."
There are also plenty of less publicized examples where U.S. assistance helps change lives, or even saves lives, like the treatment provided for people with HIV and AIDS throughout Africa.
Let us know what you think about U.S. aid at Parallels.
Probably a lot of things get hidden under the term “aid”.
But a lot of is it no doubt bribery with a coat of paint and polish, and some of that no doubt hides the real old fashioned bribery.
Especially in countries where you are not liked, you may have to pay off ruling families, generals, parties, create factions, all kinds of things and under our legal structure all of that money has to be laundered in such a way that it becomes legally explainable.
So it wouldn’t surprise me to see aid money going to friendly countries, and even more “aid” money going to unfriendly countries where we nonetheless need to operate.
When you try to but someone’s friendship or love, you are trying to make them your whore. So of course they hate you.
Idiots in DC have no understanding of human nature and live in denial of reality.
Our corrupt destructive foreign policies have been in shambles since the Vietnam era and have looted the American treasure.
NPR reported this
That’s the interesting part of this piece
It is quite a surprising to find that the majority of Russians has the favorable opinion of United States but the vast majority of them dislikes Obama.
Most of the other European countries are favorable of Obama over United States and Americans in general.
Does stupid Russians want another Reagan?:)
Foreign aid. The taking of money from poor people in rich countries and the giving of it to rich people in poor countries.
I wonder if even the maroons over there fear for their nation like we have since 2008.
“Which nations hate the U.S.?”
Pretty much all of them.
“When you try to but someone’s friendship or love, you are trying to make them your whore. So of course they hate you.
Idiots in DC have no understanding of human nature and live in denial of reality.”
But they do have a tight grip on the whore issue. My Sen, Mary Landrieu, comes to mind. Looking forward to her election campaign carny come on commercials.
As it is in life, respect must be earned, not purchased.
Of course they do.
Easiest way to get rid of relatives/acquaintances you don't like is to "lend" them enough money. No terms, just tell them, "When you've got it." I've NEVER heard from them again.
STOR ALL FEDERAL FOREIGN AID! If liberals want to “help” other countries, let them donate for that purpose. Charity taken by force of arms is THEFT!
America is $16 triilion in debt and it hands out money to other nations?
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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It's not related to aid. If you review the PEW report, they countries that don't like us are the Muslim countries, with the exception of Indonesia. I acknowledge the aid does little good with the population, but sending tanks to Egypt doesn't do much for the population.
There is one country that receieves aid (really discounts on military hardware to support US manufactureres) that loves the USA -— my country of Israel.
Also, on the list of countries that showed up with specialized rescue teams to help after Hurricane Sandy and the OK tornadoes is telling. The list is:
1. Israel
2.
3.
4.
5.
That’s it. Just Israel.
Indonesia is majority Muslim.
Don’t you know, it’s all just part of their Jooo! plot. They were harvesting organs from the dead, and killing the wounded to harvest their organs./s
Yes, they gave us a 61% approval rating (China 70%), next highest Muslim nation Lebanon at 47%, not far off from their Christian population, after that Tunisia at 42% (China 63%) and other than Turkey at 21% no others above 16%. Lots of countries missing in the poll.
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