A month-long, 21-nation survey by the Pew Research Centre found approval of Mr Obama has sharply declined since he took office in early 2009, and US economic clout is increasingly seen to be waning, even among key US allies in Europe.

America’s image is more positive than it was before (Obama) came in office, in Europe, in Brazil, in Japan, in some parts of the world

But despite some general disappointment with the President’s policies, Europeans fervently support his re-election, including in France, where 92 per cent of respondents want to see a second Obama term.

Nearly nine in 10 Germans also favour his re-election, along with 73 per cent of British respondents.

Some 72 per cent of Brazilians also want to see Mr Obama re-elected as do two-thirds of Japanese respondents.

Such numbers would be a godsend for Mr Obama domestically, where he is locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll put Mr Obama ahead 47-43 per cent against his rival.

But Mr Obama is facing strong opposition in some key spots overseas, Pew said.

In China, confidence in Mr Obama has plunged by 24 points and approval of his policies has dropped 30 points.

Just 31 per cent of Chinese want Mr Obama re-elected, compared with 39 per cent who do not.

And in Russia, a country with which the Obama Administration pledged to “reset” troubled relations, 25 per cent are in favour of his re-election and 27 per cent opposed.

Even in Europe, where support is high, confidence in Mr Obama has dropped by six points, from 86 to 80 per cent, since 2009.

There is broader opposition to Mr Obama in the Muslim world, where criticism of US foreign policy runs high, even after the Administration’s support for last year’s pro-democracy protests in Egypt and elsewhere.

In Lebanon, 62 per cent do not want four more years of Mr Obama. In Jordan the figure is 73 per cent, and in Egypt it rises to a startling 76 per cent.

“America’s image is more positive than it was before (Obama) came in office, in Europe, in Brazil, in Japan, in some parts of the world,” Richard Wike, associate director of Pew’s Global Attitudes Project, said.

“In many Muslim countries we haven’t seen the same Obama effect on America’s image that we’ve seen elsewhere.”

In Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Jordan less than three in 10 expressed confidence in Mr Obama.

In Pakistan, where Mr Obama ordered the daring US commando raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, confidence in Mr Obama was a dismal seven per cent – the same as for his predecessor George W. Bush in his final year in office.

But the United States still fares better in the eyes of the world now, than four years ago.

America’s image “is certainly more positive today than it was during the last year of the Bush Administration, and President Obama gets higher ratings than President Bush just about everywhere”, Mr Wike said.

“But it’s also true that Mr Obama’s rating has slipped a bit in most countries that we surveyed,” he added.

“In many countries I think there’s a clear sense of disappointment in his policies.”

On the economic front, America is seen as a declining power, with growing numbers of respondents naming China, not the United States, as the world’s leading economy.

In seven of the eight European nations surveyed, a plurality of respondents said they consider China the global economic leader.

Last year 55 per cent in Japan named the United States as the top economy, compared to 33 per cent naming China.

But today, 45 per cent of Japanese name the United States, while 43 per cent name China.

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