The Annual U.S. - Global Leadership Project:
Development, Diplomacy, and Defense

Featuring

Ambassador Stuart W. Holliday
President and CEO Meridian International Center

Jon Clifton
Deputy Director of the Gallup World Poll Gallup

Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin
President, Middle East Institute

Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool
Embassy of the Republic of South Africa

Douglas B. Wilson
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
U.S. Department of Defense

Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering
Vice Chair, Hills & Company
Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs

This Meridian and Gallup roundtable session will focus on the recently released 2010 survey data and polling results for the U.S. – Global Leadership Track, which provides an annual assessment of how the world views the leadership of the United States.

The panel will examine the survey data through the lens of current U.S. foreign policy, including the three strategies of diplomacy, defense, and development and will discuss world events that may have influenced opinion of U.S. leadership around the world. This session will also examine how world perceptions of U.S. leadership affect the U.S.’s ability to address current foreign policy challenges, such as the uprisings across the Arab world and building a coalition in support of U.S. diplomatic and military objectives in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

The U.S. - Global Leadership Project, a partnership between Meridian and Gallup, provides an ongoing assessment of the relationships between the U.S. and the world. The U.S.-Global Leadership Track of the Gallup World Poll monitors public opinion of U.S. leadership in over 100 countries. Through an annual series of high-level discussions, the Project combines this data with analysis and commentary from world leaders to examine the factors driving global perceptions of U.S. leadership and to create a powerful barometer of U.S. relationships around the world.