Gallup has tremendous polls on a variety of different topics. Their section on the Middle East is particularly comprehensive. You could spend hours on their site but one poll I found interesting was their US Global Leadership Poll. This poll, “presents U.S. leadership approval research from 132 countries and areas that Gallup surveyed in 2015. The report includes detailed data for all 132 countries, including approval differences from 2014 to 2015 and regional medians not available in Gallup Analytics or anywhere else.”
Some interesting finds:
45% of people globally approve of US leadership on the world stage (compared with just 34% in 2008).
In 2008, 58% of Europeans disapproved of US leadership while only 18% approved. In 2009, the numbers flipped, 47% approved while 22% disapproved. 46% approve today while 35% disapprove.
1% of Russians approve of US leadership (you read that right, 1%)
US approval ratings are low in Eastern Europe (28% in Latvia, 16% in Serbia, 34% in Estonia).
It’s clear that America’s perception on the world stage has improved dramatically under Obama, but I’d be curious to see these numbers next year with a new president in the Oval Office.