Americans Have Relatively Positive Image of Jordan

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Jordan's King Abdullah II is in Washington this week, and will meet with President George W. Bush today at the White House. The meeting follows a series of recent high profile interactions between the Bush administration and key Middle East players as it intensifies its efforts to help bring peace to the troubled region.

Major Conclusion

There is a decided disconnect between the attitudes that Americans have of Jordan, and the attitudes that Jordanians have of the United States. Jordanians are much more negative about the United States than Americans are about Jordan

In comparison to Americans' opinions of other Islamic countries, Jordan is relatively well positioned in the minds of Americans. A Gallup poll in early March asked the U.S. population to rate their views of nine predominantly Islamic countries, and found that Jordan is one of the countries, along with Turkey, about which Americans are least likely to have unfavorable opinions.

Gallup's recent poll of nine predominantly Islamic countries, on the other hand, found that these relatively positive attitudes are not reciprocated. Jordanians have a strongly negative opinion of the United States. In fact, Jordanians have a lower opinion of the United States than do many of the other countries included in the project.

Details

• The Gallup poll of predominantly Islamic countries was conducted in late 2001 and early 2002. One poll question asked the residents of each country to rate their opinion of several countries, including the United States, using a five-point scale that ranged from very favorable to very unfavorable. The scale included a middle category, "neither favorable nor unfavorable." The results showed that 22% of Jordanians rated the United States favorably, and 16% said they had neither a favorable nor unfavorable opinion. Sixty-two percent rated the U.S. unfavorably.

• The overall pattern of results indicate that Jordan is one of the countries, out of nine included in the study, with the most negative opinions of the United States. Residents of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran had slightly more unfavorable opinions of the United States than do Jordanians. Those in the remaining five countries included in the project were less unfavorable toward the United States (although in no country in the project does a majority express favorable opinions). For example, in Lebanon, Jordan's close neighbor to the northwest, 40% of respondents gave an unfavorable opinion of the Unites States, 42% gave a favorable opinion, and the remaining 19% had neither a favorable nor an unfavorable opinion.

• As a follow-up to the study of predominantly Islamic countries, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans about the nine countries included in the survey. The results show that Americans are actually -- on a relative basis -- more positive about Jordan than Jordanians are about Americans. Thirty-two percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Jordan, 30% have neither a favorable nor an unfavorable opinion, and the remaining 28% have an unfavorable opinion (another 10% did not answer). A key comparison is the unfavorable column -- 62% of Jordanians have an unfavorable opinion of the United States, as do only 28% of Americans in their rating of Jordan. By way of comparison, 45% of Americans say they have a negative opinion of Lebanon.

Jordan and the United States

Implications

Jordan's King Abdullah II visits the United States as head of a country that the average American views relatively favorably -- or at least less hostilely than many other Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. It is unclear whether this slight advantage in favorability creates a higher probability of success for the King's efforts while he is in the United States. But the American public apparently will be somewhat more receptive to what he has to say than they may have been for other recent visitors, such as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, whose country has a decidedly more negative image.

At the same time, Americans should presumably be aware of the fact that residents of Jordan view Americans with considerable hostility. Indeed, as noted, Jordan turns out to be one of the countries out of the nine included in Gallup's study of predominantly Islamic countries with the most negative image of the United States.

There are several explanations for Jordan's relatively positive image in the minds of Americans. Among them are the possible positive impact of the country's late King Hussein on Americans' feelings about his country, and perhaps the country's association with the River Jordan, a very familiar name to students of both the Old and New Testaments. (Although indirect, the name "Jordan" may have generally positive connotations to some religious Americans.) Furthermore, Her Majesty Queen Noor, the wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan, was an American, born in New York City, and a graduate of Princeton University.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 863 national adults, aged 18+, conducted Mar. 1-3, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

Results from predominantly Islamic countries are based on in-person interviews conducted in nine countries between December 2001 and January 2002, with the following sample sizes and margins of error:

Country	Sample Size	Margin of Error
Pakistan	2,043	±2
Iran	1,501	±3
Indonesia	1,050	±3
Turkey	1,019	±3
Lebanon	1,050	±3
Morocco	1,000	±3
Kuwait	790	±4
Jordan	797	±4
Saudi Arabia	754	±4

Next, I'd like your overall opinion of some foreign countries. First, is your overall opinion of [RANDOM ORDER] very favorable, somewhat favorable, neither favorable nor unfavorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable? How about -- [NEXT ITEM INSERTED]?

2002 Mar 1-3	Very favorable	Somewhat favorable	Neither favorable nor unfavorable	Somewhat unfavorable	Very unfavorable	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
A. Indonesia	4	19	35	22	8	12
B. Iran	3	7	14	27	45	4
C. Jordan	8	24	30	19	9	10
D. Kuwait	7	23	25	22	16	7
E. Lebanon	3	14	30	27	18	8
F. Morocco	5	23	37	15	6	14
G. Pakistan	5	26	17	27	21	4
H. Saudi Arabia	4	19	20	29	24	4
I. Turkey	10	28	29	17	6	10

SUMMARY TABLE: FAVORABILITY OF NATIONS

Mar. 1-3 2002 (sorted by "total favorable")	Total Favorable	Total Unfavorable
	%	%
Turkey	38	23
Jordan	32	28
Pakistan	31	48
Kuwait	30	38
Morocco	28	21
Saudi Arabia	23	53
Indonesia	23	30
Lebanon	17	45
Iran	10	72

THE 2002 GALLUP POLL OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD

As I read off the names of some nations, one at a time, would you tell me whether your opinion of that nation is somewhat favorable, neither favorable or unfavorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable? The United States . . .

	Very favorable	Somewhat favorable	Neither favorable nor unfavorable	Somewhat unfavorable	Very unfavorable	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Lebanon	18	24	19	10	30	--
Kuwait	11	17	31	19	23	--
Saudi Arabia	7	9	20	15	49	--
Jordan	8	14	16	13	49	--
Pakistan	*	4	23	17	51	4
Turkey	4	36	25	19	14	2
Iran	3	11	14	9	54	--
Morocco	5	17	19	22	19	--
Indonesia	7	20	43	24	6	--