Blair 'more popular than Bush'

By Steve Schifferes BBC News Online, Washington

Tony Blair is more respected as a world statesman by the people of the United States than George W Bush, a poll suggests.

The Pew Research Center global attitudes survey asked 16,000 people in 20 nations around the world about their attitude towards world affairs.

Key allies: Tony Blair (left) and President Bush

More Americans, when asked whether they had confidence in a world leader to "do the right thing" regarding world affairs, said they trusted the British prime minister (83%) than their own president (78%).

Mr Blair was also the most trusted world leader in Australia and Canada - but not in his own country, where he was just beaten by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Mr Annan was the most trusted leader in a number of other countries, including Brazil, South Korea, Italy and Spain, while Mr Bush was the most trusted leader only in Israel.

Disillusion with US - and UN

The results generally suggest an increasingly polarisation of world opinion as a result of the squabble over the Iraq war.

Compared with one year ago, the number of people having a favourable view of the United States has declined sharply, especially in Germany, France and Russia - countries whose governments opposed the war.

But the fall has been particularly marked in the Muslim world, where only 38% of Nigerian Muslims, 15% of people in Turkey and Indonesia, and 12% of Pakistanis have a favourable view of the US.

Among the countries surveyed, only Great Britain, Canada, Italy and Australia have a positive view of America.

Majorities in most countries say that the UN is now less relevant, including countries like Germany and France.

Globalisation backed

However, American values - the belief in free markets, global trade and democracy - have strong worldwide support.

And globalisation is generally seen as a good thing rather than a bad thing, not only in the rich countries but in many developing countries as well.

It is in the countries that are rapidly modernising, like South Korea, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, that globalisation gets the highest level of support among the public.

Opposition to globalisation is strongest in Argentina - where the economic crisis of the last two years has led to sharp declines in living standards - Jordan, and Poland.

But on one measure of values - the role of government in providing a social safety net - attitudes differ considerably between the US and other industrialised countries.

In the US, 58% believe it is more important to be free from the government to pursue one's own goals, compared with 38% who believe it is more important that the government ensures that no one is needy.

The ratio is reversed in Europe and much of Latin America, where there is strong support for a social safety net.

However, in much of Asia and Africa, where government corruption is seen as a major problem, freedom from government control is also rated highly.

And despite general support for globalisation, most people believe that the gap between rich and poor has become wider.

War on terror

The survey also paints a picture of declining support for the US-led war on global terror.

Support for the campaign has declined by 10% to 15% in Germany, France, Nigeria, and Indonesia, and by 20% or more in Russia and Brazil since the previous survey a year ago.

In some Muslim countries, Osama Bin Laden - the head of al-Qaeda and the man accused of masterminding the 11 September attacks on the US - is now seen as the most trusted leader.

However, there is strong support in Muslim countries for so-called Western values like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, multi-party democracy, and equal treatment under the law.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press carried out surveys in 21 countries, interviewing 16,000 people, between 28 April and 15 May 2003. The survey was a follow-up to the Pew Global Attitudes Survey, which was conducted among 38,000 people in 44 countries in between July and October 2002.