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QuoteWho loves and hates America: A revealing map of global opinion toward the U.S.
posted by Max Fisher on January 11, 2013 at 11:14 am
WashingtonPost.com

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One of the most common answers I hear when I ask foreigners what they think about the U.S. is some variation of this: "You Americans are all so obsessed with how you're perceived overseas." In that spirit, even if it means reinforcing a stereotype, I've mapped some new data on global opinion of the United States, as part of a series of posts on Pew's fascinating and just-out "global attitudes" study.

The map at the top of the post shows positive and negative opinions of the U.S. across the world. The poll works just like a presidential poll: Pew called people up and asked them if they had a favorable opinion of the U.S. or an unfavorable opinion (there was also a choice for no answer). Countries with a more favorable opinion are in blue (the darker the blue, the more favorable); red shows more unfavorable attitudes. A quick note about the data: most of it is from 2012, but I also pulled the 2011 numbers for Kenya, Ukraine, Indonesia and Lithuania; as well as the 2010 numbers for Argentina, Nigeria and South Korea; these countries were not included in the most recent survey.

My first impression is that nobody polarizes public opinion like Uncle Sam. Pew asked for respondents to give their impressions of several different countries (more on this in later posts), and the U.S. seemed to draw by far the strongest responses. It's not really surprising that people have strong opinions about America, but it is a reminder of how closely we're watched around the world and of the strong feelings that the American model and American foreign policy elicit.

The harshest views of America are in, no surprises, the Middle East and South Asia. Egyptians, Jordanians, Turks and Pakistanis all seem to see the United States in an overwhelmingly unfavorable light. As Turkey's economy grows, its foreign policy becomes more assertive and democratization gives the Turkish people a stronger role in government, the negative view of the U.S. there could become more important for the world.

Still, it's important not to make the mistake of confusing these four anti-American countries, which have their own reasons for disliking the U.S. (drones in Pakistan, perceived support for Hosni Mubarak in Egypt), with the entire Middle East or "Muslim world." Indonesia and India, which have two of the largest Muslim populations in the world, both returned mildly positive views of America. Views vary even in the Arab Middle East; Tunisians and Lebanese seemed ambivalent, reporting roughly equivalent favorable and unfavorable numbers. And Nigerians, half of whom are Muslim, positively beam pro-Americanism: They report a more favorable view of the U.S. than Americans themselves do.

So who seems to like America? It's a long list – longer than you might expect. To give a comparative sense, recent polls find that Americans give President Obama 59 percent "favorable" and 40 percent "unfavorable" ratings. And he just won reelection, so we can say those are pretty good numbers. America scores similar favorability ratings in a few countries we might assume, wrongly, don't like us so much: Mexico, despite U.S. immigration policies targeting Mexicans, and Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has pushed some populist anti-Americanism. We are also moderately liked in the post-Soviet state of Ukraine, in Brazil and in the United Kingdom. I thought we'd be more popular in the U.K., where politicians make a big deal out of the "special relationship" with Washington. It's possible that there's still some sense that once-great Britain is being led around by its former colony (I've heard some Brits worry about becoming the "51st state"), as well as lingering resentment over the view that the U.K. was pulled into the Iraq War.

The U.S. is most popular in continental Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the northeast Asian countries of South Korea and Japan. Those latter two are interesting cases: Both are pro-American democracies still defended by a large U.S. military presence. But that military presence forcibly occupied Japan only two generations ago (though it helped to build democracy there), and in South Korea it propped up a long-running dictatorship; Japanese and Koreans occasionally protest the American bases. The remarkably pro-Americanism of sub-Saharan Africa is its own interesting phenomenon; it's shown up in many more surveys than just this one. Many Africans, I've been told by scholars of the region, are keenly aware of how well African Americans have been doing since the civil rights movement, and see it as a point of African pride that the leader of the world's most powerful country has roots in their continent.

The few countries that seem ambivalent toward the U.S., or at least equal parts favorable and unfavorable, are an interesting mix. China's take is unsurprising: The U.S. is seen as a symbol of prosperity and possibility there, but also of Western imperialism and disrespect toward China. Greece and Lebanon both have strong ties to Greek-American and Lebanese-American communities, which helps build positive attitudes, but also tend to condemn U.S. foreign policy. The big surprise here is Germany, which breaks from the positive view of America common across Europe, even in Russia. But that could say more about Germans, who seem to have a dim view of nearly every country on Earth.  :lol:  More on that in a later post. Keep checking back.

QuoteMexico, despite U.S. immigration policies targeting Mexicans,

Quote from: Barrister on January 11, 2013, 04:20:47 PM
I found Brazil somewhat surprising.  I also wonder why the high positives in Kenya and Nigeria (I think), but grey everywhere else in sub-saharan Africa.  Lack of data perhaps?

Quote from: Barrister on January 11, 2013, 04:20:47 PM
I found Brazil somewhat surprising.  I also wonder why the high positives in Kenya and Nigeria (I think), but grey everywhere else in sub-saharan Africa.  Lack of data perhaps?

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 11, 2013, 04:30:23 PM

Quote from: Barrister on January 11, 2013, 04:20:47 PM
I found Brazil somewhat surprising.  I also wonder why the high positives in Kenya and Nigeria (I think), but grey everywhere else in sub-saharan Africa.  Lack of data perhaps?

I believe gray means they weren't polled.

Quote from: PDH on January 11, 2013, 05:01:15 PM
Map sucks.  Little islands are all round.

Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on January 11, 2013, 06:04:23 PM
Israel seems pretty iffy on their approval.  Maybe they'd be more comfortable depending on China.

Quote from: Razgovory on January 11, 2013, 05:52:17 PM
What's with Russia these days?

Quote from: Phillip V on January 11, 2013, 04:48:45 PM

Quote from: Barrister on January 11, 2013, 04:20:47 PM
I found Brazil somewhat surprising.  I also wonder why the high positives in Kenya and Nigeria (I think), but grey everywhere else in sub-saharan Africa.  Lack of data perhaps?

Kenya considers Obama a native son. No polling data from rest of black Africa except Nigeria, so maybe Nigeria is also happy about Obama.

Quote from: derspiess on January 11, 2013, 05:15:38 PM

Quote from: PDH on January 11, 2013, 05:01:15 PM
Map sucks.  Little islands are all round.

And they didn't use red for British territory.

Quote from: Tyr on January 11, 2013, 07:26:03 PM
Kenya at least is developing very well.

Quote from: Valmy on January 11, 2013, 08:16:37 PM
That is a very liberal definition of 'very well' there.

Quote from: Caliga on January 11, 2013, 10:00:40 PM
Fucking Turks and Greeks. :rolleyes:

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 12, 2013, 02:34:08 AM
Africans generally love the US because of our color blind immigration system and because they can make millions playing sports once they get here.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 12, 2013, 02:34:08 AM
Africans generally love the US because of our color blind immigration system and because they can make millions playing sports once they get here.

Quote from: PRC on January 12, 2013, 02:50:28 AM
How many African immigrants have made millions playing sports once they get there?

Dikembe Mutumbo & Manut Bol are the only ones that come to mind but i just like saying their names over and over.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 12, 2013, 04:09:09 AM
Take a look at any NFL roster.  African names all over the place.  They're the new Samoans.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 12, 2013, 04:09:09 AM
Take a look at any NFL roster.  African names all over the place.  They're the new Samoans.

Quote from: The Larch on January 12, 2013, 04:34:48 PM
If you take a closer look beyond their name you'll find that they're american born.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 12, 2013, 05:00:59 PM

Quote from: The Larch on January 12, 2013, 04:34:48 PM
If you take a closer look beyond their name you'll find that they're american born.

Doesn't really refute my point though.  African family immigrates to the US, their sons grow up to be gigantic Mandingo warriors and make a mint playing defensive line.

Quote from: Tyr on January 11, 2013, 11:52:12 PM

Quote from: Valmy on January 11, 2013, 08:16:37 PM
That is a very liberal definition of 'very well' there.

:unsure:
Silicon savannah is really taking off thanks to that new East African net cable and a rather good minister they have. They've been posting some rather good general growth numbers too.

Quote from: The Larch on January 12, 2013, 05:03:57 PM
But the original inmigrants didn't move so their kids could play football, that was one unforeseen consequence.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 12, 2013, 06:27:24 PM

Quote from: The Larch on January 12, 2013, 05:03:57 PM
But the original inmigrants didn't move so their kids could play football, that was one unforeseen consequence.

So what?  You think the parents are upset their kids got full ride scholarships and are making a million a year?  You think the extended family back in the old country is upset?

Quote from: sbr on January 12, 2013, 07:36:23 PM
What percentage of African immigrant off-spring do you think get a full ride?  75-80%?

Quote from: Tyr on January 11, 2013, 11:52:12 PM
:unsure:
Silicon savannah is really taking off thanks to that new East African net cable and a rather good minister they have. They've been posting some rather good general growth numbers too.