Approval of U.S. leadership in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was already slipping before the recent wave of anti-U.S. protests across the region. An average of 20% of adults across 12 MENA countries Gallup surveyed between January and May 2012 approved of the job performance of the leadership of the U.S. This rating was down from 22% in 2011 and 25% during the first two years of President Barack Obama’s term.
The image of U.S. leadership in the region in early 2012 is still better than the 15% average in the last year of the George W. Bush administration. Overall, the decline in U.S. leadership approval in the MENA region is in line with a gradual downward trend in U.S. leadership support since 2009.
