President Obama's 2008 campaign pledge to improve the image of the United States around the world hasn't worked in Russia where a decade low of just 1 percent approve of American leadership, according to Gallup.

In fact, Gallup said that Russia's view of the U.S. is the lowest in the world and comes at a time when Moscow is flexing its military muscle in hotspots like Syria where Obama is struggling to use force.



The 1 percent Russian approval of the United States is below where it was when former President George W. Bush left office, at about 20 percent.

"Just 1 percent of Russians approved of U.S. leadership in 2015 — the worst rating in the world last year and the lowest approval Gallup has measured for the U.S. in the past decade. Remarkably, this is even worse than their previous record-low 4 percent approval in 2014," said Gallup in the new poll.

The analysis blames the situation in Ukraine, which Russia invaded and the U.S. couldn't stop. Other low ratings came from Belarus and Kazakhstan, which feel threatened, and the Palestinian Territories.

Still, across the 132 countries included in the survey, Obama has boosted U.S. approval to above Bush's level, and it is strong among U.S. allies in Europe.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com