The Bush administration’s unilateralism and incompetence, typified by its reckless invasion of Iraq, have damaged perceptions of the United States in much of the world. By many accounts, China has taken advantage of this lapse in U.S. leadership by bolstering its own influence across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. But a new study of perceptions in Asia suggests that favorable opinions of the U.S. will outlast the Bush years and that China still has a long way to go before it can match America’s soft power. This offers grounds for optimism that forecasts of America’s global decline are premature and that a new U.S. president with a more multilateral foreign policy will find many overseas partners who seek and support his leadership.

The new study is a survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the East Asia Institute of more than 6,000 people in China, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and the United States. The survey, conducted before this year’s unrest in Tibet and the devastating Sichuan earthquake, asked ordinary citizens questions about how they view each country’s culture, economy, politics, and influence. The findings are striking: majorities in every country except Indonesia see U.S. influence in Asia as positive, and Asians have more positive perceptions of America’s diplomatic, political, and human capital power than they do of China’s. Even Chinese views of America’s soft power are quite favorable: 44% of Chinese would pick the U.S. as their first choice for their children’s higher education. What’s more, pluralities or majorities in most countries state that U.S. influence in Asia has increased over the last 10 years. All of this suggests that, despite the many failings of the Bush administration’s foreign policy, the underpinnings of America’s standing in Asia remain strong.

This is great news, especially considering that the Bush administration has neglected most of Asia while focusing on counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Asian countries want more U.S. involvement, not less, and, in particular, they want more American engagement with the economic issues that are of greatest interest to them. (While many Asian governments are providing valuable cooperation in the fight against Al Qaeda, counterterrorism is not their top priority.) The upshot is that a new U.S. president will have a tremendous opportunity to further improve America’s standing in Asia.

As president, Barack Obama will be better positioned to take advantage of this opportunity than would be John McCain. McCain’s worldview and foreign policy proposals are not much different than those of President Bush, emphasizing military power as the primary means of achieving U.S. goals. By contrast, Obama favors a greater focus on nonmilitary elements of American influence, including diplomacy, economic engagement, and humanitarian assistance. Those are the tools that are essential to maintain our position of leadership in Asia and to demonstrate to Asians that our soft power is more attractive than China’s. If we use those tools wisely, our influence will remain strong-and even grow-not just in Asia, but throughout the world.

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