I've posted a number entries that deal with national brands. Part of my concern has been that the US brand is declining in the view of people around the world. The latest concern come from this story in the Financial Times of London - "US suffers decline in prestige":
The US has suffered a significant loss of power and prestige around the world in the years since George W. Bush came to power, limiting its ability to influence international crises, an annual survey from a well regarded British security think-tank concluded on Tuesday.
The 2007 Strategic Survey of the non-partisan International Institute for Strategic Studies picked the decline of US authority as one of the most important security developments of the past year – but suggested the fading of American prestige began earlier, largely due to its failings in Iraq.
The report was released in the UK yesterday and is being released in Washington today (see IISS website).
The report focused on the international security aspects (International Institute for Strategic Studies - Strategic Survey 2007 Press Statement):
In general, Strategic Survey argues that during 2007 the US suffered a loss of international authority as a result of the failure to impose order in Iraq. Leaders and groups around the world sought to take advantage or to protect themselves from the consequences of this loss of prestige. A few countries flexed their muscles regionally more confident in their relative power, while radical groups sought to discredit the leaders of those countries who maintained solid relations with the US. Other countries appeared to hedge their diplomatic relations with the US by strengthening their links with regional powers.
This shuffling in the international power and influence balance made it difficult for strong initiatives for conflict resolution to be undertaken, just as it complicated the diplomatic coordination needed to address some security crises.
A few intriguing advances took place in the Six-Party Talks with North Korea, and the UN was able to approve a Security Council resolution on Darfur. That said, the year saw the world seized by a bout of strategic arthritis, with movement on a number of key fronts disabled by a lack of diplomatic agility and pace.
The report doesn't look at the economic side of the equation. But other surveys have shown that declining view of the US affects exports. The group Business for Diplomatic Action has a collection of the latest - I have posted earlier stories.
That decline is not inevitable, nor is it tied specifically only to Iraq. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, there are thing that came be done to help reverse the negative perception of the US in some quarters. Companies can also push to buildup their own reputation - given that company brands can be somewhat separated from national brands (see an earlier posting). But specific actions need to be taken with respect to the US brand. The work of Business for Diplomatic Action is especially important. Any one concerned about our declining brand should looking to and join the work of that organization.
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