America is a reliable partner and its international image is largely positive. This, in a nutshell, is the result of the most recent Pew Research Center survey released on June 22. Another survey conducted in the Balkans showed that America is seen very positively in this region with Bosnia and Kosovo remaining firmly pro-Western. Both surveys indicate that America's global image is improving.
The Pew survey, conducted in 17 countries, bodes well for the U.S. and the West. America is viewed favorably by 61 percent of those surveyed from February to May. President Joe Biden is viewed positively by 60 percent of respondents. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, approval for NATO is positive and on the rise with an overall favorability of 66 percent.
In fact, over the past year and a half, two events improved America's international image: the beginning of President Joe Biden's term in the White House in January 2021, and the U.S.-led response to assist Ukraine in the face of Russia's invasion in February of this year.
Shortly after the release of the Pew Research Center's findings, the results of a region-wide survey conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI) similarly showed that America's image is positive in one corner of Europe: the Balkans. Conducted early this year and before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the survey's results are reassuring.
Bosnia, Kosovo and North Macedonia remain steadfastly pro-American and pro-Western. An ethnic breakdown shows that Bosniaks and Albanians are America's key allies in this region. Eighty percent of surveyed Bosniaks in Bosnia had a favorable opinion of the U.S. compared with 36 percent of Serbs and 59 percent of Croats. By contrast, 89 percent of Bosnian Serbs had a favorable opinion of Russia. In North Macedonia, 80 percent of Albanians had a favorable view of the U.S. In Kosovo, the results are even more striking: 94 percent of Kosovar Albanians had a favorable view of the U.S.
President Biden remains a popular figure in the Balkans. As a senator in the 1990s, Biden was an eloquent supporter of Bosnia and Kosovo and advocated for assertive U.S. action in the Balkans. His eloquent rhetoric is still fondly remembered. Sixty-nine percent of Bosniaks had a favorable view of Biden and only 15 percent of Bosnian Serbs held the same view. By contrast, 83 percent of Bosnian Serbs had a favorable opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A majority in Bosnia is in favor of a pro-Western foreign policy with 42 percent support. Asked what Bosnia's foreign policy should be, 58 percent of Bosniaks were in favor of a pro-EU and pro-Western policy with Croats at 52 percent. In Kosovo, the results were even more supportive of the West with 84 percent of Albanians favoring this course. Similarly, in North Macedonia, 68 percent of Albanians favored a pro-Western approach.
In Bosnia, overall support for full NATO membership is solid at 51 percent in 2022 and this represents a 3 percent increase from 2020. Bosnia's NATO accession is supported by Bosniaks (69 percent) and Croats (77 percent) while only 8 percent of Bosnian Serbs support it. In Kosovo, 82 percent of Albanians favor full NATO membership in line with this state's strong commitment to the Western institutions.
What IRI's survey showed is that Bosnia, Kosovo and North Macedonia are pro-American and pro-NATO. This has been the case since the American-led interventions in the Balkans in the 1990s. Even when anti-Americanism spread globally after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, support for America was generally strong in Bosnia and Kosovo and that continues to this day.
But, America's job in the Balkans remains unfinished. Over the past 15 years, the U.S. shifted its focus elsewhere and this power vacuum has been felt in the region—a vacuum that Russia and China may fill. The European Union attempted to step up to the plate but to no avail. The Balkans remains in a limbo as Bosnia and Kosovo remain outside the European Union and NATO with no firm anchor in Western institutions.
Having invested politically, militarily and financially in rebuilding Bosnia and Kosovo, the U.S. should not allow spoilers to undo the peacebuilding of more than two decades. The Biden administration should redouble efforts to integrate Bosnia and Kosovo into NATO. With North Macedonia in NATO, the admission of these two countries into the Alliance would anchor this volatile region firmly in the West.
NATO's expansion in the Balkans would provide security and stability for Bosnia and Kosovo. Now that EU membership is essentially off the table for both nations following the recent European Council summit, the imperative to join NATO is all the more important. Absorbing two Balkan states into the Alliance is an effective way to ensure that the Balkans do not remain the powder keg of Europe.
Hamza Karčić is an associate professor at the faculty of political science at the University of Sarajevo.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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