Tuesday, April 20, 2010
America’s popularity throughout the world has risen over the past year, according to the BBC’s World Service Poll. While not the most popular nation on the block, the United States has nonetheless lowered its negative ratings by nine points, and boosted its favorable ratings by four points. Overall, 46% of global respondents now say the U.S. has a positive influence in the world, while 34% believe America still has a negative impact.
Some populations continue to hold a very negative view of the U.S., including those in Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, Mexico and Germany.
Germany has the highest favorable rating (59%) in the world, followed by Japan (53%), the United Kingdom (52%), Canada (51%), and France (49%). But some of these countries are not as popular as they once were, with the UK and Japan experiencing three-point declines and Canada six points.
However, none of these Western nations have to worry about falling to the bottom. The world’s most negatively-viewed state is Iran (15%), followed by Pakistan (16%), North Korea (17%), Israel (19%), and Russia (30%).
The results are base on almost 30,000 in-home or telephone interviews in 28 countries, conducted by the polling agency GlobeScan in conjunction with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Global Views of United States Improve While Other Countries Decline (BBC Poll) (pdf)
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