Current and past crises in foreign countries, and the subsequent U.S. response to these events, have left the public dissatisfied with both the White House and the Republican Party. Obama was swept into office in 2008 on the promise that he would reverse the more aggressive — and what he deemed reckless — course set by the GOP when President George W. Bush was in office.

However, 44 percent of U.S. voters think America’s relations with the Islamic world are actually worse than they were five years ago when Obama gave his highly anticipated speech in Cairo, according to at least one Rasmussen poll.

The survey, which was conducted Aug. 24-25, found that only 9 percent of voters think that things have improved since around 2009. This is a nine-point drop from September 2012, when U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, were attacked by terrorists and four Americans murdered.