America’s Overall Image Around the World Remains Largely Positive--Pew Global Research

Last edited Thu Jun 25, 2015, 01:20 PM - Edit history (1)

June 23, 2015
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1. America’s Global Image

By Richard Wike, Bruce Stokes and Jacob Poushter

America’s overall image around the world remains largely positive. Across the nations surveyed (excluding the U.S.), a median of 69% hold a favorable opinion of the U.S., while just 24% express an unfavorable view. However, there is significant variation among regions and countries.

The U.S. receives largely positive reviews among many of its key NATO allies. About two-in-three Canadians have a favorable opinion, as do large majorities in Italy, Poland, France, the UK and Spain. The outlier is Germany, where just 50% give the U.S. a positive rating, while 45% express a negative one. America’s image has become more negative in Germany over the last few years – as recently as 2011, 62% of Germans gave the U.S. a favorable review and only 35% assigned a negative rating.

In conflict-ridden Ukraine, 69% have a positive opinion of the U.S., although there are notable differences between the western (78%) and eastern (56%) regions of the nation. (For more on Ukrainian public opinion and the methodology for our Ukraine survey, see this recent report).

The conflict has led to a dramatic increase in anti-American sentiments in Russia. Only 15% of Russians have a positive view of the U.S. today, down from 51% two years ago, before the outbreak of violence.

Roughly eight-in-ten Israelis see the U.S. in a positive light, although there is a wide gap between Israeli Jews (87% favorable) and Arabs (48%). Elsewhere in the region, America’s image is largely negative, with most Jordanians, Palestinians, Turks and Lebanese registering an unfavorable opinion.

Still, positive ratings for the U.S. in Turkey have increased by 10 percentage points in the last year (from 19% to 29%). And in Lebanon, views divide sharply along religious lines: A slim 55%-majority of the country’s Christians have a positive opinion of the U.S., as do 48% of Sunni Muslims. Only 3% of Lebanese Shia Muslims share this view.


America’s image is mostly positive among the Asian nations polled. Particularly large majorities see the U.S. favorably in the Philippines (92%), South Korea (84%) and Vietnam (77%). And following a year in which President Obama visited India, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to the U.S., America’s image in that country has improved significantly, jumping from 55% favorable to 70% today.

Positive views of the U.S. have declined slightly in China, however, dropping from 50% to 44%. Pakistan is the one Asian nation surveyed where a majority gives the U.S. a negative rating, although favorable views have become somewhat more common over the last year (22% today, 14% in 2014).

Views of the U.S. remain largely favorable in Latin America. As Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff prepares to visit the U.S., fully 73% in her country give the U.S. a favorable review, up from 65% a year ago. And even though Argentina is the only country surveyed in the region where less than half hold a positive view, ratings for the U.S. have nonetheless improved since 2014 (43% now vs. 36% a year ago).

The opposite is true, however, in Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro has engaged in considerable anti-American rhetoric in the past year. Only 51% of Venezuelans now rate the U.S. favorably, down from 62% in 2014. There are deep ideological divisions in Venezuela, with 73% of those on the political right giving the U.S. positive marks, compared with 44% of those in the center and just 21% among those on the left.

As has largely been the case since the Pew Research Center began polling in sub-Saharan Africa in 2002, America’s image is positive in the region. In all nine African nations surveyed, more than seven-in-ten have a favorable opinion of the U.S. And in Uganda (+14 percentage points), Ghana (+12), Nigeria (+7), Senegal (+6) and South Africa (+6) the percentage of people expressing this view has increased significantly since last year.
Young See U.S. More Positively
In 22 of 39 nations, young people express significantly more favorable attitudes toward America. For instance, 59% of 18-29 year-olds in China have a positive opinion about the U.S., compared with just 29% of those ages 50 and older. Notably large gaps are also found in Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, Poland, Ukraine and Venezuela


MUCH MORE at.....

http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/06/23/1-americas-global-image/[/b\