Terror war fails to harm image of UK for young Muslims

High-profile support for President George Bush's "war on terrorism" has done little to damage Britain's reputation among young Arabs and Muslims abroad, research shows.

But Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws – who presented the findings of the study, commissioned by the British Council, yesterday – warned there was "very solid and real antagonism" towards Britain.

"It's not just on the periphery that there are hard and strong feelings," she said. "These hard feelings are quite broad. People do feel that the US and Britain and the West generally is not caring enough about the concerns of the Islamic and Arab world. But it's much more complex than people might imagine. It's not just 'them and us'."

The study, Connecting Futures, revealed that 19 per cent of people aged 15 to 25 in nine predominantly Muslim countries saw Britain in a less favourable light at the start of this year compared with two years ago. For 18 per cent, however, Britain's image was enhanced.

The deterioration in Britain's image was sharpest among Palestinians, while the opposite trend was observed among Muslims in Asia.

Research organisations in the nine countries questioned 4,700 young people according to a brief prepared by the British Council.

The study was set in motion after a Gallup survey commissioned by the US government late last year showed a sharp increase in the negative perception of America and Britain in Muslim countries as the "war on terrorism" started.

British Council representatives said that these findings conflicted with observations of their own staff on the ground in these countries, and they wanted to establish whether their more positive impressions were wrong.

Overall, America and Britain received poor marks across the board for their foreign policy, but high marks in other categories. In a pecking order of countries, America easily came top – as it did in another study two years before – with Japan, Egypt and Britain, at two, three and four. France was fifth, but a significant distance behind.

The strongest determining factor was the perception of economic might, where America and Britain both scored highly. Education, especially the standard of higher education and its value as a passport to employment, was a particular recommendation for Britain, as was its sense of heritage and the stability of its political system.

The high position occupied by Japan was due almost exclusively to its prowess in technology. Egypt was widely seen as the most successful regional power.

The nine countries surveyed were: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The British Council had originally intended the survey to remain an internal document, but decided to publish the results because they so emphatically contradicted the negative findings of the earlier US Gallup report. The council hopes to attract more government and business funding for its public diplomacy projects among young Muslims as a result.

One surprise was the strength of negative feeling among young Turkish nationals. Among the reasons those surveyed gave for a negative view of Britain, the most common were "conservatism, inappropriate adherence to traditions and class divisions, aloofness, over-formality, racial intolerance and unfriendliness to foreigners".

Almost as many, however, found the same traits commendable: young Saudis, in particular, thought highly of Britain's loyalty to tradition and the monarchy.