The public image of the United States abroad has declined over the past year, driven mainly by disapproval of the U.S. position on the Gaza war, according to a new Pew Research Center poll of 34 countries released Tuesday.
The survey, the latest in an annual series that has been conducted for more than two decades, also found that international trust in U.S. democracy is declining. On average, four in 10 of the more than 40,000 respondents said that U.S. democracy was once a good model for other countries to emulate, but that this is no longer the case. This view was most pronounced across the 10 European countries surveyed.
This year's survey found that respondents in 24 countries trust President Joe Biden more than his rival, former President Donald Trump, to “do the right thing” in world affairs, while two countries (Hungary and Tunisia) favor Trump over Biden. The remaining eight countries found no significant difference in trust between the two men.
But at the same time, confidence in Biden's handling of international affairs has fallen over the past year in 14 of the 21 countries where Pew Research Center polled for both this year and 2023, with double-digit declines in eight countries, including South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Israel and Japan.
The survey was conducted between early January and late May this year and included the following European countries: Hungary, the UK, Poland, Sweden and Spain, as well as France, Germany, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands. In the Americas, the survey included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
In addition to Australia and Japan, the 10 Asia-Pacific countries surveyed were Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Sub-Saharan African countries included South Africa, as well as Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
Overall, positive views of the United States outnumber negative ones in every country, with a median of 54% of respondents having a favorable opinion, with the most positive ratings being found in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. However, 10 of the 21 countries surveyed last year saw a drop in favorable views of six percentage points or more, with the largest declines in Australia, Israel, South Africa and Germany.
Biden was most trusted to “do the right thing” in world affairs in sub-Saharan Africa, except in South Africa, where opinion was evenly divided. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, nearly 90% of respondents in both Turkey and Tunisia said they “have no confidence” in the US president, while Latin America (except Colombia), Southern Europe, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, France and Hungary also had broadly negative views of the US president.
Of the five specific issues on which respondents were asked to rate Biden's performance, by far the most negative rating was on his handling of the Gaza war: Across the 34 countries, a median of 31% said they approved of Biden's actions in the conflict, while a median of 57% disapproved.
The most unfavorable views were seen in Muslim-majority countries Turkey (8%), Tunisia (5%) and Malaysia (15%). Fewer than 25% of respondents in Hungary, Italy, Peru, Mexico and Chile also said they disapproved of Biden's Gaza policy.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, 39% of respondents said they supported Biden's policies. The most positive views of Biden's conduct in the war were recorded in Canada and Europe, particularly Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and the UK. In Asia, views were most favorable in Japan and South Korea, but still below 50%.
As with Ukraine, 39% of respondents said they supported Biden's approach toward China, with support highest among respondents in Poland, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Kenya and Nigeria, at roughly 50%.
When asked how much they trusted four current national leaders to “do the right thing” in world affairs, French President Emmanuel Macron received the highest rating with 44% of all respondents, closely followed by Biden with 43%. Chinese President Xi Jinping received an average trust rating of 24% and Russian President Vladimir Putin received the lowest rating at 21%.
Respondents in Europe (excluding Greece), Japan, South Korea, Australia, Israel, Brazil and Chile rated Putin with the lowest trust. European respondents also gave Xi Jinping a low rating, along with those in Japan, South Korea, Australia, Israel, Turkey, Brazil and Chile.
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