New global poll: Israel, Iran, North Korea and U.S. have mostly negative influence on the world

Posted by Joshua Holland at 8:39 AM on March 6, 2007.

The Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) released the latest in its series of worldwide opinion polls today. According to the study of the views of people in 27 countries, which was conducted for the BBC, Israel, Iran, North Korea and the U.S. are seen as having a mostly negative influence on world affairs. Here are excerpts of the findings:

A majority of people polled for the BBC World Service across 27 countries believe Israel and Iran have a mainly negative influence in the world with almost as many saying the same about North Korea and the United States.

Respondents were asked to rate 12 countries - Britain, Canada, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Russia, the USA, Venezuela - and the European Union, as having a positive or negative influence.

Canada, Japan, the European Union, and France were judged most positively. Britain, China, and India received more positive than negative evaluations while Russia was viewed slightly more negatively than positively. Opinions about Venezuela were evenly divided. [...]

"It appears that people around the world tend to look negatively on countries whose profile is marked by the use or pursuit of military power," said Steven Kull, director of PIPA. This includes Israel and the US, who have recently used military force, and North Korea and Iran, who are perceived as trying to develop nuclear weapons."

"Countries that relate to the world primarily through soft power, like Japan, France, and the EU in general, tend to be viewed positively," he added. [...]

Israel is viewed quite negatively in the world, possibly because the poll was conducted less than six months following the Israel/Hezbollah war in Lebanon. On average, 56 percent have a mainly negative view of the country, and just 17 percent have a positive view, the least positive rating for any country evaluated. In 23 countries the most common view is negative, with only two leaning towards a positive view and two divided.

Unsurprisingly, the most negative views of Israel are found in the predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, with very large majorities in Lebanon (85%), Egypt (78%), Turkey (76%), and the UAE (73%) having negative views.

Large majorities also have negative views in Europe, including Germany (77%), Greece (68%) and France (66%). Indonesia (71%), Australia (68%) and South Korea (62%) are the most negative countries in the Asia/Pacific region. Brazilians (72%) are the most negative in Latin America.

The two countries that tend to view Israel positively do so in modest numbers.

Forty-five percent of Nigerians and 41 percent of Americans have positive views of Israel's influence in the world, while nearly one-third in each country has negative views. The Kenyan and Indian populations have divided views of Israel. [...]

Iran continues to receive quite negative views worldwide, with the exception of some predominantly Muslim countries. On average this year, a majority of 54 percent view Iran's influence negatively, while just 18 percent say it has a positive influence.

Out of 27 countries, 21 view Iran negatively. Four countries lean positive and two others are divided. Among the 19 countries polled in both 2006 and 2007 the average views have remained essentially unchanged.

Countries in Western Europe and North America have the largest majorities expressing a negative view of Iran, though some have seen dramatic movements in opinion over the past year. [...]

North Korea is also seen as a mainly negative influence in the world. Out of 27 countries polled, 20 have mostly negative views, while five lean towards seeing it positively, and two are divided. On average, 48 percent see North Korea as a negative influence and 19 percent believe it has a positive influence. [...]

As reported earlier, worldviews of the United States continue to worsen, with most countries having a largely negative view of the US. Across all 27 countries polled (excluding the US self-evaluation), half (51%) now say the US is playing a mainly negative role in the world. However, among the countries that on average are viewed negatively, the US has the largest percentage--30 percent--saying it has a positive influence.

Across the 19 countries that have been polled for the last three years, the average percentage saying that the United States is having a mainly positive influence in the world has dropped six points from a year ago after having dropped four points from the previous year.

Among the 26 countries polled this time (excluding the US), in 20 the most common view of the United States' influence is negative, while in just four it is mainly positive and two are evenly divided...

Some of the sharpest drops in positive ratings over the last year have occurred in four countries that tended to be quite positive about the United States. Poland's positive ratings dropped 24 points, from 62 percent a year ago to 38 percent today. The Philippines dropped 13 points, from a very high 85 percent to a still-high 72 percent. India fell from 44 percent to 30 percent. And Indonesia plunged 19 points--from 40 percent to 21 percent positive--perhaps due to the waning of the positive effect of the American aid to Indonesian tsunami victims.

Additionally, the number of American respondents who believe the United States is having a positive influence in the world has also decreased six points, from 63 percent to 57 percent, and has dropped a total of fourteen points (from 71%) from 2005.

Tagged as: global opinion, pipa

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.