I caught a little of Karl Zinsmeister being interviewed by Ben Wattenberg on his TV show, “ThinkTank,” this morning. He quoted some interesting numbers about the evolution of attitudes towards America in the Muslim world over the past several years. I found the same story in this piece he wrote for the American Enterprise Online on his return from spending a month in Iraq– Fact vs. Fiction: A Report from the Front.

As terrorists’ attacks have shed light on their goals and principles, and as the U.S. has shown it is serious about promoting democracy in Iraq and then going home, new views of America are evolving in Islamic countries. According to surveys in 17 nations carried out in 2005 by an organization chaired by Madeleine Albright, support for terrorism in defense of Islam has “declined dramatically” in the last couple years — from 73 percent to 26 percent in Lebanon, from 40 percent down to 13 percent in Morocco, from 41 percent to 25 percent in Pakistan.

Support for Osama bin Laden has plummeted in nearly every Islamic nation. Rationalizing suicide bombing and violence against civilian targets is way down. A majority of Muslims in many nations now “see Islamic extremism as a threat to their countries.” And majorities of Muslims in many countries now believe that “the U.S. favors democracy in their country” — and rather like the idea. The upshot: positive views of the U.S. are rising — up 23 percentage points in Indonesia, up 15 points in Lebanon, up 16 in Jordan.

Now, I’m sure those increases in numbers are from extremely low previous levels, and no one should pop champagne corks. Nevertheless, the movement is in the right direction; it also seems substantial and significant, and it goes against conventional wisdom. History usually does.

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