of the United States matter greatly or moderately , with 47 percent saying that Muslim opinions of the United States do n't matter very much or at all . The poll 's release comes hours before the president flies to Saudi Arabia for meetings with King Abdullah . Following the stop in Saudi Arabia , Obama will head to Egypt , where he 'll deliver a long-awaited speech Thursday on relations between the United States and the Muslim world . Watch the challenges Obama faces with the speech '' At a town hall in Turkey earlier this year , the president declared that `` the United States is not , and will never be , at war with Islam . '' Many Americans seem to agree with the president : Sixty-two percent of those surveyed say they do n't think the United States is at war with the Muslim world , with 36 percent indicating that the country is at war with Muslim countries . Those numbers have remained stable since CNN 's 2002 poll . But the poll suggests that six out of 10 think that the Muslim world considers itself at war with the United States . ``
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Shortly before President Obama departs for a trip to the Middle East , a new national poll suggests that one in five Americans has a favorable view of Muslim countries . President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visit an Istanbul mosque in April . That view compares with 46 percent of the people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey who say they have an unfavorable opinion of Muslim countries . That 's up 5 percentage points from 2002 , when 41 percent indicated that they had an unfavorable view . Meanwhile , three in 10 say they have a neutral opinion of Muslim countries . The poll also suggests that most Americans suspect people in Muslim countries do n't think highly of the United States . Nearly eight in 10 questioned say people in Muslim countries have a unfavorable opinion of the United States , with 14 percent saying Muslims hold a favorable view . iReport.com : Your perspectives on the Muslim world But the poll indicates Americans seem to be split on whether such negative opinions by Muslims matter . Fifty-three percent of those questioned say they think Muslim views