Not All Foreign Nations Are A Blight On The Earth

Amid growing anti-Americanism abroad, you might expect Americans to return the favor by voicing indiscriminately hostile views of foreign countries. In fact, their opinions are far more nuanced, as we learn from a Gallup survey on Americans' views of some other nations.Canada and Britain scored best, as usual. Forty percent of respondents expressed a "very favorable" opinion of Canada, and 49 percent were "mostly favorable." Just 6 percent were "mostly unfavorable" and 3 percent "very unfavorable." Britain's tally was similar: 46 percent very favorable, 42 percent mostly favorable, 5 percent mostly unfavorable and 3 percent very unfavorable. Germany is now back in Americans' good graces, with 17 percent very favorable and 62 percent mostly favorable. Not so for France: A bare majority gave it favorable votes (12 percent very, 42 percent mostly), while four in 10 were unfavorable (28 percent mostly, 12 percent very). France now shares with Saudi Arabia the status of a putative ally that's largely disliked. But Saudi Arabia fared worse, with its unfavorable tally outweighing its favorable by 62 percent to 31 percent. Closer to home, the influx of immigrants from Mexico has become a charged issue in the U.S. Even so, opinion of Mexico itself remains largely positive: 14 percent very favorable and 50 percent mostly so, vs. 24 percent mostly unfavorable and 8 percent mostly so.Americans looked askance at Japan when its economy seemed unstoppable. But a long slump there has made people here more indulgent: 81 percent now hold favorable views of Japan. Elsewhere in Asia, China and India are often paired in media coverage as future dynamos. Americans view the two in quite different ways, though. Ten percent have a very favorable and 56 percent a mostly favorable opinion of India, while 16 percent are mostly unfavorable and 7 percent very unfavorable. As for China, Americans used to see it quite favorably—before Tiananmen Square. But favorable opinion sagged right after the 1989 clampdown and has yet to recover. The current breakdown: 4 percent very favorable, 40 percent mostly favorable, 35 percent mostly unfavorable and 14 percent very unfavorable. That puts China behind Russia, whose favorable total exceeds its unfavorable tally by 58 percent to 35 percent. Iran, whose current leadership has alarmed even the most Panglossian observers, had the worst ratings: 1 percent very favorable, 6 percent mostly favorable, 40 percent mostly unfavorable and 46 percent very unfavorable. Even North Korea fared a bit less badly, with an unfavorable total of 81 percent. But there's always next year!

Brand Marketing

Not All Foreign Nations Are A Blight On The Earth—Just Some Of Them

Mark Dolliver

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Mark Dolliver