In 2008, candidate Obama belittled Pres Bush for not having many friends among the nations and for being unable to lead the world. Recent polls by Zogby clearly show that Obama is less popular than Bush was at the end of his term—especially among the Arab-Muslim nations. Indeed, Obama’s performance ratings are lowest on the two issues to which he has devoted the most energy: Palestine and engagement with the Muslim world. One big difference is that the Bush team actually produced votes at the UN (the Bush team produced 5 resolutions on Iran, Obama has only managed to get 1) and was confronting dictators. Do you think, maybe, that the world recognizes and likes leaders better than they do campaigners? Bottom line: The US lacks an effective foreign policy.
See poll results here: http://aai.3cdn.net/5d2b8344e3b3b7ef19_xkm6ba4r9.pdf