Mixed Signals

The results, published Thursday this week, point to two overarching reasons for continuing European skepticism towards America and its policies -- the Iraq war and President George W. Bush.

The survey conducted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and four European foundations was based on more than 1,000 interviews conducted in 11 EU states, Turkey and the US in June this year.

Iraq war, Bush to blame

Respondents in both the US and Europe agreed on why relations had declined in recent years. Thirty-eight percent on both continents said the handling of the Iraq war was the most important factor. Thirty-nine percent of Americans said Bush's personal style had been the biggest reason for the souring of trans-Atlantic ties, while 34 percent of Europeans cited US president.

John Glenn, director of foreign policy at the German Marshall Fund told German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung that the fact that both Americans and Europeans agreed on why ties had deteriorated shows "our figures are in no way proof of European anti-Americanism."

Though more than three-quarters of Europeans polled said they disapproved of Bush's foreign policy, only slightly more than a third said they believed relations would improve under a new president. A majority of Europeans, 56 percent, said US leadership in world affairs was undesirable.

Despite the rise of new political leaders in Germany, Britain and France, half the Americans surveyed and one third of the Europeans said trans-Atlantic ties had worsened in the last year.

"Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown may offer a new spirit of cooperation in trans-Atlantic relations in Europe, but this year's Transatlantic Trends suggest they will need to tread carefully," the survey's organizers were quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

United in shared fears

Despite the pessimistic outlook on the future of trans-Atlantic relations, the survey also found that Europeans remained open to working with the US to tackle global threats. Slightly more than half were in favor of the EU cooperating with Washington to deal with security threats.

At the same time, the poll said Europeans and Americans increasingly share the same fears. In both places, those surveyed listed energy dependence among the top three threats they saw as most likely to affect them.

International terrorism also figured large with about two-thirds of Europeans citing it as a big worry compared with almost three-quarters of Americans. The fear of international terrorism has risen in Europe by 17 percentage points since a similar survey in 2005. The 2007 survey was conducted before recent arrests of alleged terror suspects in Germany and Denmark.

In Germany, particularly, 70 percent of respondents said they worried being affected by global terrorism, up by 32 percent since 2005.

Germany has been shaken by reports in recent years of planned terrorist attacks. In July last year, two bombs placed on commuter trains failed to explode. This week, police arrested three Islamic militants accused of planning bomb attacks on American targets in Germany.

Global warming topped the European list of biggest fears at 85 percent. Despite popular perception in Europe that the US has done little to curb climate change, 70 percent of Americans said global warming was likely to affect them.

Differing views on use of force

Americans and Europeans, however, remain far apart on the question of whether the West should deal with threats with military force.

Forty-seven percent of Americans polled said they were in favor of using the threat of force if Tehran insisted on developing its nuclear program as against just 18 percent of Europeans.

Similarly, more than two-thirds of Americans said they supported sending their soldiers into combat with rebel Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. Only 30 percent of Europeans polled shared that opinion.