Washington briefing: Poll: U.S. edges out China and Russia in worldwide popularity

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Friday February 13, 2009

Although more respondents worldwide still hold negative views of the United States, the overall view of the United States has improved while that of Russia and China has declined, according to a BBC World Service Poll conducted in 26 countries around the world late last year and made public on February 5.

According to the findings, 40 percent of respondents had a positive view of the United States (vs. 43 percent with negative views), 39 percent had positive views of China (vs. 40 percent) and 30 percent had positive views of Russia (vs. 42 percent).

Iran, Pakistan, and Israel, in that order, had the most negative ratings; while Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada were seen in the most positive light, by 61, 58, and 57 percent of respondents, respectively.

The poll involved 13,575 respondents in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Chile, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, India, Russia, China, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia.

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