POLL OF ARAB NATIONS FINDS FAVORABLE VIEWS OF OBAMA

After his election, President Obama vowed to address the Muslim world from an Islamic capital sometime in the early days of his presidency. On Saturday, the White House announced that Obama would be making the speech in Cairo, Egypt on June 4, in what Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called "a continuing effort of the president to engage the Muslim world."

A new McClatchy/Ipsos poll suggests that Obama's "overtures to the Middle East are paying off in positive feelings towards him from Arab peoples that far outpace the region's critical view of the United States itself." A poll of six Arab countries "found that residents think that Obama will have a positive impact on the Middle East." In Jordan, where Obama scored the highest, 58 percent have a favorable opinion of him; in Saudi Arabia, 53 percent gave him a favorable rating. Though the ratings dip in Kuwait, Lebanon, and Egypt -- where only 35 percent view him favorably -- "in none of these countries...was Obama's unfavorable rating higher than his favorable one." The polls mark a promising change in direction from the Bush years, during which world opinion of America -- particularly from Muslim nations -- fell dramatically. A 2008 Pew poll found that majorities in only three of 24 countries polled had confidence President Bush would "do the right thing regarding foreign affairs." In Jordan, 89 percent had little to no confidence in Bush, a perspective shared by 86 percent in Egypt and 65 percent in Lebanon.