Times Are A-Changin'

The Economist had an article today about the discrepancy in approval rates of the United States between Eastern and Western Europe. Approval rates apparently soared in countries like Germany or Great Britain, but merely budged upward in countries like Poland and Romania. The article puts a lot of the blame for the phenomenon on the U.S. stance on the missile defense system that had been promised to eastern European countries but is no longer planned, as well as on the NATO actions regarding the region.

I would venture to add that many countries in Eastern Europe still have a lot of misconceptions about the United States and its role in European and world affairs, as well as in the politics that each party represents in the United States. In other words, it makes no difference whether a Democrat or Republican is president; to Eastern Europe, America remains America. Obama's race may have a role in it, too... but that's just my opinion and I cannot support it statistically.

And I also liked their cartoon on the article.