Positive and Negative Influences in the World

This news is over a month old, but still notable. A survey of world public opinion in 23 countries found Germany and Japan to be the countries which are seen as having the most positive effect on world affairs. The United States was roughly even with North Korea, having a few more friends but also a few more enemies. The United States also falls behind Brazil, Russia, China, and India as a benevolently-viewed power, but ahead of Pakistan, Israel, and Iran.

The full report or summary report can be viewed at World Public Opinion, BBC, or GlobeScan.

The question was:

Please tell me if you think each of the following countries are having a mainly positive or mainly negative influence in the world.

Some other highlights:

When asked for their views of their own country’s influence in the world, Japanese citizens are the most modest of those polled, with only 36 per cent saying Japan is having a mainly positive influence. Americans come next with only 56 per cent saying the US is having a positive influence. Conversely, fully 91 per cent of Chinese citizens and 78 per cent of Russian citizens say their country is having a positive influence.

In total 17,457 citizens in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the UAE, and the United States were interviewed face-to-face or by telephone between October 31, 2007 and January 25, 2008. Polling was conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan and its research partners in each country.