Over The One

The era of smart diplomacy doesn't seem to be working out so well:

US leadership has lost some of its luster abroad, suggesting President Barack Obama can't count on as much global euphoria as he gears up for a fierce reelection campaign, a new survey found Thursday.

The report card was particularly dire from Serbia and Iran where approval ratings for the White House were below 10 percent. India, Cyprus, Belarus and Egypt also gave the Obama administration less than stellar marks.

Overall, median approval ratings for Washington's leadership across 136 countries stood at 46 percent in 2011 -- largely unchanged from 47 percent across a smaller sample of 116 states a year earlier, but better than during the final years of George W. Bush's presidency.

Approval ratings for the original pool of 116 countries, meanwhile, declined from 47 percent to 43 percent between 2010 and 2011.

"US leadership ratings in 2011 failed to regain the momentum they lost in 2010 and instead remained static or retreated even more in some places," said the "US-Global Leadership Project" report, released jointly by Gallup and the Meridian International Center.

The problem with "leading from behind" is that nobody can see you...