Bush foreign policy 'creates risks for US companies'

According to the Financial Times, the business community isn't happy with the way Bush is handling US foreign policy.

US multinational companies are "acutely worried" about the business consequences of Bush administration foreign policy, according to a new report from Control Risks, a UK-based international security consultancy.

"The consequences of Bush's foreign policy have created new risks - and exacerbated existing risks - for US companies around the world," the report says. The company's RiskMap 2004 report describes US foreign policy as "the most important single factor driving the development of global risk".

It says many in the private sector "believe that US unilateralism is creating a security paradox: by using US power unilaterally and aggressively in pursuit of global stability, the Bush administration is in fact creating precisely the opposite effect."

It says that for companies such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola, dealing with anti-American sentiment is not new. "However, US companies that never previously worried about the connotations of their national origin are acutely worried about a new wave of popular resentment in other parts of the world against US policies," it says. Long-standing boycotts of US products in the Middle East and parts of south-east Asia had been reinvigorated, a point emphasised by the rapid success of brands such as Mecca-Cola and Qibla Cola.

If I were Bush, I'd be very worried about this. Re-election is going to be mighty difficult if big business isn't 100% behind him.