ModerateVoters points out a USN&WR article points out that the U.S. is thought of better in Indonesia than in most other Muslim countries:
In a dramatic shift in public opinion, more Indonesians now view the United States more favorably than in a negative way. At the same time, support for Osama bin Laden has dropped to its lowest level since 9/11.
MV theorizes that this is a result of our providing tsunami aid last year. I wouldn’t be surprised by that, although I’d also throw in our trading relationship as well. Still, this does provide a useful little factoid to support the idea that there are intangible benefits to acting in a charitable manner.
I can’t help but wonder about the possibility that Americans are thought of favorably or at least neutrally in much of the world by all but the most extreme or most media-influenced folks. You can disagree with a country’s government without necessarily disliking the country’s people.
If that weren’t true, we’d have a lot of self-loathing Americans.