Anti-American opinion has deepened significantly over the past five years, according to a Pew Research Center study released this week. The poll found that Middle Eastern nations, nato affiliates and long-standing American allies are among those sharply critical of President Bush, U.S. foreign policy and America’s perceived contribution to global warming.

Pew surveyed over 45,000 people across 47 countries and five continents in April and May in its largest “Global Attitudes” poll ever.

The study found majorities in 37 of 47 countries expressing little to no trust in the American president to handle world affairs appropriately, with extremely low opinions of the U.S. in Muslim countries. Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey, important nations for Middle East diplomacy, expressed favorable views of the U.S. at 21, 15 and 9 percent respectively. Positive views toward America dropped to 30 percent in Germany and to just 51 percent in Britain, perhaps America’s strongest allies.

Many countries expressed disapproval of American foreign policy, democracy, and involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

World opinion has grown increasingly fixated on global warming, the study found. “Most of the citizens in the global survey agree the environment is in trouble and most blame the United States and, to a much more limited degree, China,” Pew reported.

The Pew Global Attitudes Project was established in 2002, when it found positive views toward America following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Since then, approval of the United States has dropped in 26 of the 33 nations for which Pew had trend data. Overall, 25 of the 47 countries expressed overall favorable opinions toward the U.S at 51 percent or above.

The drop in approval since 2002 underscores a trend indicating the world at large is unhappy with Pax Americana. At a 1997 Harvard University conference, leading Chinese, Russian, African, Indian, Muslim and Arab scholars said the United States was the single greatest external threat to their societies. In 2003, Europeans tied the United States with Iran and North Korea for the second-worst threat to world peace. Israel was first.

Current trends show that the American administration of global peace is not satisfactory for millions of Europeans, Asians, Africans, even Americans. Asian, European Union and Islamic powers are looking more and more to their own methods of economic, political and military war and peace. For forecasting on the future of the United States in world affairs and how world citizens will ultimately react to today’s global threats, read “Superpower Under Seige.”