As British P.M. Visits Today, Britain Reigns as Top U.S. Ally

PRINCETON, NJ -- When asked to choose which of five nations is the United States' most valuable ally, Americans are slightly more likely to choose Great Britain than Canada. Far fewer give this distinction to Japan, Israel, or Germany.



The new Gallup Poll was conducted Feb. 27-28 in anticipation of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's March 3 White House visit, his first since Barack Obama became president. Gallup asked Americans to choose which of five highly rated countries from Gallup's Feb. 9-12 World Affairs survey they consider to be the United States' "most valuable ally."

Two in three Americans choose one of the United States' primary English-speaking allies -- Great Britain or Canada -- which are also the two countries that received the highest favorable ratings.

There are variations in the extent to which Americans name Canada or Great Britain as the United States' top ally. For example, Republicans are significantly more likely to choose Great Britain than Canada, while Democrats are slightly more likely to choose Canada than Great Britain.







On the other hand, British Prime Minister Brown, who has been in office since June 2007, remains largely unknown to Americans. The Feb. 27-28 poll finds 69% of Americans saying either that they have never heard of him (40%) or that they are not familiar enough with him to have an opinion (29%). To the extent Americans are familiar with Brown, they view him much more positively (25%) than negatively (6%).



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http://www.gallup.com/poll/116272/British-Visits-Britain-Reigns-Top-Ally.aspx