By Richard Wike, Bruce Stokes, Jacob Poushter and
Janell Fetterolf
June 26, 2017
Although he has only been in office a few
months, Donald Trump’s presidency has had a major impact on how the world sees
the United States. Trump and many of his key policies are broadly unpopular
around the globe, and ratings for the U.S. have declined steeply in many
nations. According to a new Pew Research Center survey spanning 37 nations, a
median of just 22% has confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes
to international affairs. This stands in contrast to the final years of Barack
Obama’s presidency, when a median of 64% expressed confidence in Trump’s
predecessor to direct America’s role in the world.
The sharp decline in how much global publics
trust the U.S. president on the world stage is especially pronounced among some
of America’s closest allies in Europe and Asia, as well as neighboring Mexico
and Canada. Across the 37 nations polled, Trump gets higher marks than Obama in
only two countries: Russia and Israel.
In countries where confidence in the U.S. president fell
most, America’s overall image has also tended to suffer more. In the closing
years of the Obama presidency, a median of 64% had a positive view of the U.S.
Today, just 49% are favorably inclined toward America. Again, some of the
steepest declines in U.S. image are found among long-standing allies.
Since 2002, when Pew Research Center first
asked about America’s image abroad, favorable opinion of the U.S. has
frequently tracked with confidence in the country’s president. Prior to this
spring, one of the biggest shifts in attitudes toward the U.S. occurred with
the change from George W. Bush’s administration to Obama’s. At that time,
positive views of the U.S. climbed in Europe and other regions, as did trust in
how the new president would handle world affairs.
Even though the 2017 shift
in views of the U.S. and its president is in the opposite direction compared
with eight years ago, publics on balance are not necessarily convinced that
this will affect bilateral relations with the U.S. The prevailing view among
the 37 countries surveyed is that their country’s relationship with the U.S.
will be unchanged over the next few years. Among those who do anticipate a
change, however, more predict relations will worsen, rather than improve.
Confidence in President
Trump is influenced by reactions to both his policies and his character. With
regard to the former, some of his signature policy initiatives are widely
opposed around the globe.
His plan to build a wall along
the U.S.-Mexico border, for example, is opposed by a median of 76% across the
37 countries surveyed. Opposition is especially intense in Mexico, where more
than nine-in-ten (94%) oppose the U.S. government erecting a wall.
Similar levels of global opposition
greet Trump’s policy stances on withdrawing from international trade agreements
and climate change accords. And most across the nations surveyed also
disapprove of the new administration’s efforts to restrict entry into the U.S.
by people from certain Muslim-majority nations.
Trump’s intention to back
away from the nuclear weapons agreement with Iran meets less opposition than
his other policy initiatives, but even here publics around the world disapprove
of such an action by a wide margin.
Trump’s character is also a
factor in how he is viewed abroad. In the eyes of most people surveyed around
the world, the White House’s new occupant is arrogant, intolerant and even
dangerous. Among the positive characteristics tested, his highest rating is for
being a strong leader. Fewer believe he is charismatic, well-qualified or cares
about ordinary people.
While the new U.S.
president is viewed with doubt and apprehension in many countries, America’s
overall image benefits from a substantial reservoir of goodwill. The American
people, for instance, continue to be well-regarded – across the 37 nations
polled, a median of 58% say they have a favorable opinion of Americans. U.S.
popular culture, likewise, has maintained appeal abroad, and many people
overseas still believe Washington respects the personal freedoms of its people.
These are among the major
findings from a new Pew Research Center survey conducted among 40,447
respondents in 37 countries outside the U.S. from Feb. 16 to May 8, 2017.
U.S.
favorability declines
The drop in favorability
ratings for the United States is widespread. The share of the public with a
positive view of the U.S. has plummeted in a diverse set of countries from
Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Favorability ratings
have only increased in Russia and Vietnam.
Changing views of U.S. presidents over past
decade and a half
As Pew Research Center’s global surveys from
George W. Bush’s presidency illustrated, many of Bush’s key foreign policies
were unpopular, and by the time he left office Bush was viewed negatively in
most of the countries we polled. His successor, Obama, generally received more
positive ratings throughout his White House tenure.
Today, in many countries,
ratings for President Trump look very similar to those for Bush at the end of
his term. This pattern is especially clear in Western Europe. In the UK, France,
Germany and Spain, the low levels of confidence in Trump are very similar to
the poor ratings for Bush in 2008.
Trump, Putin and Xi all unpopular; Merkel
gets highest marks
In addition to exploring global views of
President Trump, this survey also examines attitudes toward three other major
leaders on the international stage. The results demonstrate that Trump is not
the only world leader in whom global publics lack confidence. Chinese President
Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin also get poor marks, though
neither is rated as negatively as the U.S. president. Across the 37 nations
surveyed, a median of 28% voice confidence in Xi, while 27% feel this way about
Putin.
In contrast, 42% express confidence in the
long-serving German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while just 31% lack confidence in
her. A median of 60% in Europe have confidence in Merkel, and her ratings are
particularly strong on the political left, even though she hails from the
right-of-center Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Xi and Merkel are somewhat
less well-known than Trump and Putin. Roughly one-in-five globally do not offer
an opinion about the Chinese and German leaders.
Most disapprove of Trump’s policies
The 2017 survey examines attitudes toward
five major policy proposals that President Trump has supported. Globally, none
of them are popular.
As a candidate, Trump
repeatedly pledged to withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear weapons agreement with
Iran, though he has yet to do so as president. On balance, global publics
oppose this idea. Only in Israel and Jordan do majorities support U.S.
withdrawal from the agreement.
About a third globally
express support for Trump’s proposed ban on people entering the U.S. from
certain Muslim-majority nations, although there are four countries – Hungary,
Israel, Poland and Russia – where more than half endorse this proposal.
Opposition is especially strong in several countries with Muslim-majority
populations, including Jordan, Lebanon and Senegal.
The survey, which was conducted before Trump
officially announced that the U.S. would pull out of the Paris climate change
accord, finds widespread opposition to the U.S. withdrawing from international
climate change agreements. A median of only 19% support the U.S. backing away
from accords like the one signed in Paris – similar to the low level of support
for the U.S. rejecting major trade agreements. (Trump pulled the U.S. out of
the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal early in his administration.)
Opposition to the U.S. withdrawing from climate and trade agreements is
especially strong in the European nations polled.
A median of just 16% endorse Trump’s plan to
build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Fully 94% of Mexicans oppose the
wall, and the wall is strongly rejected throughout Latin America, as well as in
much of Europe. There is no country among the 37 surveyed in which a majority
endorses a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Most say Trump is arrogant, intolerant,
dangerous, but also strong leader
Survey respondents were read a list of
positive and negative characteristics, and for each one, were asked whether it
describes Donald Trump. Around the globe, people associate a number of negative
characteristics with the U.S. leader. Most say he is arrogant, intolerant and
dangerous, while few think of him as well-qualified or as someone who cares
about ordinary people. Describing Trump as charismatic is more common, although
global publics on balance do not think of him as charismatic either. They do,
however, see Trump as a strong leader – a median of 55% across the nations
polled describe him this way.
The world’s wider view of America
Attitudes toward the U.S. president and
American foreign policy have a major impact on how people around the world view
the United States, but other factors are important too. The nation’s culture,
ideas and people – elements of what is sometimes referred to as “soft power” –
also shape how people around the world see the country. In this poll, as in
previous Pew Research Center surveys, some aspects of American soft power have
stronger global appeal than others.
The American people are
core to how the U.S. is perceived around the globe. Overall, Americans are seen
more positively than the U.S. as a country. Across the nations polled, a median
of 58% say they have a favorable impression of Americans. Positive views are
especially common in Asia and Europe. They are less common, however, in the
Middle East – Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon are the only nations polled where
majorities express an unfavorable opinion of Americans.
Along with its citizens,
America’s popular culture is often well-regarded abroad. Roughly two-thirds
across the countries surveyed like American music, movies and television.
Europeans and Asians are particularly likely to find U.S. pop culture
appealing, while these types of cultural exports are less popular in several
Muslim-majority nations.
Despite
the doubts sown several years ago by revelations
of American spying on foreign leaders and citizens, across the 37 countries
polled this spring a median of 54% believe the U.S. government respects the
personal freedom of its people. In Europe, America’s reputation for individual
liberty was damaged by the U.S. National Security Agency’s spying revelations
and has not recovered – today, a median of 52% across the 10 European nations
polled say Washington respects personal freedoms, while nearly as many (a
median of 44%) say it does not. The U.S. gets higher marks on this issue in
Asia and Africa.
But America’s influence around the world is
not always welcome. For example, even though many people say they personally
like American popular culture, a global median of 54% worry that the influx of
U.S. customs and ideas into their country is a bad thing.
A U.S. export that not all publics embrace is
American-style democracy. While publics around the world generally endorse broad democratic principles, they
offer mixed views regarding American ideas about democracy: Globally, a median
of 43% say they like these ideas, while 46% say they dislike them. As with
several other aspects of U.S. soft power, U.S.-style democracy is particularly
popular in the African and Asian nations surveyed.
Prevailing view is that relations with U.S.
will stay about the same
Respondents were asked whether, now that
Trump is president, they think relations between their country and the U.S.
will improve over the next few years, get worse, or stay about the same.
In many countries, a majority or plurality
believes relations will remain about the same. However, in most regions of the
world, the share of the public that believes things will worsen outweighs the
share that thinks relations will improve by a ratio of two-to-one. While
relatively few say they expect relations to improve, more than half hold this
view in Russia and Israel.
Country spotlights: Russia, Israel, Germany,
Mexico, Canada
Looking at findings on U.S. favorability and
confidence in the American president in Russia, Israel, Germany, Mexico and
Canada illustrates different patterns Pew Research Center surveys have
discovered over time regarding attitudes toward the U.S. and its leader.
Amid ongoing controversies and investigations
into allegations of links between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia,
attitudes toward the U.S. have turned more positive in Russia. Following the
outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, ratings for both the U.S. as a country
and for President Obama plummeted. However, since 2015 – the last time the
Center polled in Russia – favorable opinions of the U.S. have become much more
common there. And President Trump gets more-positive reviews in Russia than
either of his predecessors ever did.
In survey after survey, Israelis give the
U.S. some of its highest favorability ratings, and that’s true again this year,
with 81% saying they have a positive view of the U.S. Assessments of American
presidents, however, have fluctuated. In 2003, President George W. Bush
received very high ratings, but those declined a bit over the course of his presidency.
Obama’s confidence ratings varied from 49% to 71% in the Center’s polling in
Israel during his administration. Between 2014 and 2015, his ratings dipped
substantially, reflecting tensions between Obama and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu over the Iran nuclear deal. Israel is one of only two
countries (Russia being the other) in which Trump’s ratings are higher than
Obama’s during the final two years of his administration.
In Germany – and in several of its Western
European neighbors – attitudes toward the U.S. have followed a clear pattern
over the past decade and a half. President George W. Bush was not very popular
at the outset of his presidency, and he grew less so over the next few years,
amid widespread German opposition to key elements of
his foreign policy. This in turn had a negative impact on America’s overall
image in the country. President Obama, in contrast, was extremely well-regarded
(although his ratings did decline somewhat following the NSA eavesdropping scandal),
and this coincided with an improvement in attitudes toward the U.S. Today,
German confidence in Trump is low, and U.S. favorability is near where it was
at the end of the Bush years.
America’s image has turned negative in the
two nations with which it shares a border.
Over the past decade, U.S. presidents have
gotten mixed or negative reviews in Mexico, but at 5% Donald Trump registers
the lowest confidence rating of any U.S. leader in Mexico since Pew Research
Center began surveying there. This 5% rating is also the lowest among the 37
nations polled in 2017. The proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico has been
a high-profile position for Trump since he declared his candidacy for
president, and more than nine-in-ten Mexicans oppose it. U.S. favorability has
typically been higher than confidence in the American president in Mexico. That
remains the case this year, although the share of the public with a positive
view of the U.S. has dropped steeply since 2015.
Trump receives dramatically lower ratings than
his predecessor in Canada. And for the first time since the Center began
polling in Canada, the share of Canadians expressing a favorable opinion of
their neighbor to the south has slipped to below 50%. Just 43% of Canadians now
have a positive view of the U.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment