As Obama Takes First Overseas Trip, More See U.S. Image Abroad Improving

March 31, 2009— -- With Barack Obama on his first presidential trip overseas, far more Americans now say the United States' image abroad is improving rather than worsening, a sharp turnaround from views under George W. Bush. But significant international challenges face Obama – including skepticism at home about negotiations with Taliban elements in Afghanistan.

Obama gets 62 percent approval for handling international affairs overall, and just 14 percent say the United States' image is worsening under his presidency – down from 61 percent under Bush in late 2003. Instead 43 percent now say the United States' image is improving, up from 10 percent under Bush. The rest say it's staying the same.

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AFGHANISTAN – Among Obama's international challenges, Afghanistan looms large – and difficult. The president has suggested openness to reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban, a notion echoed today by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a 70-nation conference on Afghanistan in the Netherlands; she said Taliban members who abandon violence should be granted "an honorable form of reconciliation."

If that means negotiating with those who halt attacks on U.S., NATO and Afghan forces, many Americans are skeptical. Fifty-three percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll oppose negotiations with elements of the Taliban if they suspend hostilities; fewer, 41 percent, support it. (In Afghanistan itself, 64 percent in an ABC/BBC/ARD poll in January supported negotiations with the Taliban, most if they first put down their arms.)

Americans, underscoring their antipathy toward the group, also say by 51-41 percent that defeating the Taliban should take precedence over efforts to promote economic development in Afghanistan.

Those views are highly partisan, with Democrats far more apt than Republicans to favor negotiations and to place greater focus on economic development. In both – unlike many other current measures – more independents side with the predominantly Republican view.