President Barack Hussein Obama is even more unpopular among Arabs than was President George W. Bush, according to a recent Zogby poll.
Obama took office in 2009 enjoying about 30 percent support in Egypt, with similar ratings in other Arab countries. Today, despite his support for the so-called Arab Spring, Obama has a favorable rating in Egypt of only 5 percent - well below the 9 percent support level that Bush had during his last year in office.
President Obama took power by raising Arab expectations very high, but then not doing much to live up to his promises. The National Journal reports:
"'President Obama did not create the problems, but he created the expectation that the problems would be solved,' said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute.
"'He sent a number of signals early on that U.S. policy would change: in his inauguration speech, in his al-Arabiya interview, and in his appointment of [former Senate Majority Leader] George Mitchell as special envoy,' said Zogby. 'By the time of his speech in Cairo, the favorable ratings of the U.S. were at their highest ever.'
"But figures from six Arab nations tell the same story: People in the Arab world are frustrated by the lack of follow-up. 'You get credit for trying after 100 days, but after two years you don’t get credit for trying; you get credit for producing, and the production isn’t there,' Zogby said."
Elements of the Obama administration openly supported the Egyptian revolution against President Hosni Mubarak, and Obama has provided most of the firepower in the international effort to pound but not kill Egypt's archenemy Muammar Qaddafi of Libya. Obama has also embraced the Muslim Brotherhood, without positive result.
