BBC Global Survey

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Canada gets some love, except from Turkey, Russia

Updated Fri. Feb. 6 2009

 

 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...0206?hub=Canada

 

CTV.ca News Staff

 

A new global survey shows the majority of the world views Canada in a positive light, except we appear to be rubbing the Turks and the Russians the wrong way.

 

The BBC World Service poll, for which GlobeScan conducted interviews across 21 countries, showed Canada had the second-best rating with 57 per cent seeing it as having a positive influence in the world.

 

However, in Turkey, views of Canada have become sharply more negative.

 

In 2007, 20 per cent of Turkish people viewed Canada as having a negative influence. Now, that figure has jumped to 49 per cent.

 

Doug Miller, chairman of GlobeScan, said Friday that analysts suggest Canada's position on Turkey's past war crimes is likely to have contributed to the decline.

 

"That obviously has had some widespread media coverage in Turkey and that is a likely contributor to this," Miller told CTV.ca from Toronto.

 

However, Miller said Canada shouldn't feel so bad since Turkey "across-the-board" held negative views of most countries polled, with the exception of Germany.

 

"With the basic refusal of the EU to admit Turkey and the Iraq war I think there's quite a negative view of the West and other great powers in Turkey," he said. "I think they're feeling quite isolated and unsupported."

 

Meanwhile, in Russia, positive views of Canada deteriorated significantly from 2007 -- dropping from 51 per cent to 36 per cent.

 

Miller said there was nothing specific that its research team was aware of that could have triggered the drop.

 

From 2007 levels, significant increases in positive views of Canada were found in the following countries:

 

• Philippines (83 per cent, up from 67 per cent)
• United States (82 per cent, up from 65 per cent)
• China (75 per cent, up from 65 per cent)
• Italy (74 per cent, up from 62 per cent)
• United Kingdom (74 per cent, up from 65 per cent)
• Egypt (26 per cent, up from 12 per cent)

France, Australia, Germany, Chile, Spain, Central America, Mexico, Indonesia and India also saw Canada as having a positive influence.

 

Overall, Germany, at 61 per cent, was viewed the best by the global community.

 

The poll showed public views of China and Russia have slipped in the past year. Of those polled, 39 per cent held positive views of China, a drop of six points. Forty per cent held a negative view.

 

When asked about Russia, respondents expressing negative views jumped eight points to 42 per cent while only 30 per cent said they had positive views of the country.

 

"This poll shows that people are paying attention to how countries operate and the way in which they operate gets judged," Miller said.

 

"In the case of China and Russia that judgment is getting increasingly negative."

 

The poll showed improvements in the way Canada, Egypt, Ghana, India, Italy and Japan viewed the U.S. Still, 12 countries had predominantly negative views compared to six with predominately positive views.

 

"In the case of the United States, there is a measure of recovery of less negative views towards the United States, which could be called the Obama effect," Miller said.

 

"But it's modest. They're basically back to the levels when we first monitored this back in 2005, which was still predominately negative."

 

As was the case in 2008, Iran, Israel and Pakistan were the three countries rated most negatively. The largest number of countries -- 19 out of 21 -- gave Israel negative ratings, with the exception of the U.S. and Russia.

 

In the U.S., more viewed Israel in a positive way and in Russia the opinions were divided. Researchers note that most polling was taken before the conflict in Gaza.

 

 

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Global views of Iran among most negative: BBC poll

 

 

http://www.iranvnc.com/floater_article1.as...t=2&id=7726

 

 

Updated: Friday, February 06, 2009

 

 

 

 

Washington, 6 February (IranVNC)—Iran was again ranked last among 21 countries in terms of global public perceptions, according to a BBC World Service annual poll published yesterday.

 

 

The poll, which was conducted after the 4 November US presidential election, also revealed a slight improvement in how the U.S. was regarded.

 

 

However, public opinions of China and Russia slipped considerably in the past year.

 

 

Germany maintained the most positive ratings, with an average of 61 percent having a positive view of Berlin’s influence in the world, up from 55% last year.

 

 

More than 57% of those polled said Iran’s influence is mainly negative, while 19% say its influence is mainly positive. Fifteen of the countries had a negative view of Iran’s influence, one country, India, viewed it positively, and five were divided.

 

 

The results showed that negative views of Tehran grew considerably in five countries. The greatest change came in Egypt, where the positive rating dropped to 36% from 62%, and the negative rate increased to 41% from 24%. Views also grew more negative in the U.S., the Philippines, France and Mexico.

 

 

In India, views of Iran, which were divided last year, were 24% positive and 17% negative, although very large numbers declined to choose either option.

 

 

Germans had the most negative view of Iran, at 86%, followed by Italians, 81%, Spaniards, 80%, and Americans, 79%.

 

 

Among the 21 countries, Pakistan had the second-lowest rating, as 53% of respondents gave it a negative rating, followed by Israel, with 51%. The largest number of countries, 19, gave negative ratings to Israel. The two exceptions were Americans, with 47% viewing it as positive, and Russians, at 24%.

 

 

On average, views of US influence improved somewhat as compared to the previous year, with substantial improvements occurring in Egypt, Italy, India, Canada and Turkey. However, attitudes about the U.S. remained predominantly negative in most countries.

 

 

Though polls have shown that most people around the world are hopeful that US President Barack Obama will improve US relations with the world, “it is clear that his election alone is not enough to turn the tide,” said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland.

 

 

GlobeScan interviewed 13,575 people by telephone between 21 November 2008 and 1 February 2009. Those surveyed were from Australia, Britain, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States.

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Germany Maintains Status as Most-Liked Country

 

 

 

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4009436,00.html

 

 

As in previous years, Germany fared best in the poll, published Friday, Feb. 6, with every country viewing it positively, and 61 percent of people rating it favorably, up from 55 percent a year ago.

 

 

 

Britain also moved up seven points, with 58 percent of people rating it as having a positive influence.

 

 

 

Negative views about Russia jumped by eight points to 42 percent among the 13,000 people questioned in 21 countries, while 39 percent had a negative view of China's role in global affairs.

 

 

 

The survey, conducted by the international pollster GlobeScan, was taken after the election of US President Barack Obama.

 

 

 

It showed that attitudes towards the US are gradually becoming more favorable, although 43 percent of those asked still have a negative view of Washington's impact on world affairs.

 

 

 

US pulls ahead of Russia

 

 

 

However, the US, for the first time since 2005, surpassed Russia in positive ratings, with an average of 40 percent compared with 35 percent last year.

 

 

 

The poll, in which GlobeScan cooperated with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (Pipa) at the University of Maryland, was carried out in the 10 weeks leading up to Feb. 1.

 

 

 

In the same survey a year ago, in the same countries, people leaned more towards saying China and Russia were having a positive influence on the world, poll analysts said.

 

 

 

"Our poll results suggest that China has much to learn about winning hearts and minds in the world," said GlobeScan chairman Doug Miller.

 

 

 

"It seems that a successful Olympic Games has not been enough to offset other concerns that people have," he said.

 

 

 

The poll also suggests that substantially more people now have a negative view of Russia's influence, which was judged negative by 42 percent and positive by just 30 percent.

 

 

 

"As for Russia, the more it acts like the old Soviet Union, the less people outside its borders seem to like it," Miller said.

 

 

 

Obama not a panacea

 

 

 

As was the case last year, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea were rated most negatively, the BBC said.

 

 

 

But the US is still rated negatively by 43 percent of those polled. However, this is an improvement from 47 percent 2008.

 

 

 

"Though BBC polls have shown that most people around the world are hopeful that Barack Obama will improve US relations with the world, it is clear that his election alone is not enough to turn the tide," said Steven Kull, director of Pipa.

 

 

 

"People are still looking to see if there are significant changes in US policies."

 

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Pakistan, Iran, Israel among the most negatively viewed countries, finds global survey

 

 

 

http://www.newspostonline.com/world-news/p...y-2009020732152

 

 

 

London, Feb. 6 (ANI): Global public perceptions of Pakistans influence has been rated among the most negative along with Iran and Israel, according to BBC World Service radios annual poll of 21 countries.

 

Eighteen countries had mainly negative views of Pakistan’’s influence according to the survey, almost all of which was conducted just after the attacks on Mumbai, widely believed to have been carried out by Pakistani-based guerrillas.

 

The survey, which questioned some 13,500 respondents in 21 countries around the world, found that perceptions of Iran and Israel’’s influence also became considerably more negative this year, the Daily Times reported.

 

The poll also revealed a slight improvement in views of the US, but they remained largely negative despite Barack Obamas election as the US president.

 

Americas positive rating rose five points to 40 percent while negatives dipped four points to 43 percent, the poll said.

 

Germany was voted most favourable, with positives at 61 percent against 15 percent negatives.

 

In 13 out of 21 countries polled, the view of Russia was most commonly negative, while in only four countries, most notably China (74 percent positive) and India (39 percent positive, 12 percent negative), were they found to be predominantly positive.

 

 

 

Positive views fell particularly sharply in Britain, while negative views grew steeply in the U.S., France, Germany, Egypt, Turkey, and Nigeria.

 

Against last years poll ratings, Russia and Chinas popularity standing in the world had slipped. (ANI)

 

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POLITICS: Israel, Iran, Pakistan World's Least Popular Nations

 

 

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45688

By Jim Lobe

 

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (IPS) - Israel, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan are widely seen as exerting the most negative influence on world affairs, according to the latest in a series of annual global surveys by the BBC's World Service on popular perceptions of the world's most powerful or newsworthy nations.

 

The survey, which questioned some 13,500 respondents in 21 countries around the world, found that perceptions of Russian and Chinese influence also became considerably more negative during 2008.

 

At the same time, views of the United States, which rivaled those of Israel and Iran just two years ago, continued improving modestly last year but remained predominantly negative despite the victory of Barack Obama in the November 2008 presidential elections.

 

"Though BBC polls have shown that most people around the world are hopeful that Barack Obama will improve U.S. relations with the world, it is clear that his election alone is not enough to turn the tide," said Steven Kull, director of the University of Maryland's Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), which helped conduct the survey. "People are still looking to see if there are significant changes in U.S. policies."

 

Just two weeks ago, the BBC released a 17-nation poll of more than 17,000 respondents, two out of three of whom said they expected U.S. relations with the world to improve under an Obama presidency.

 

The 21 countries covered in the latest survey, most of which was conducted in December, included the three nations of North America - Canada, the U.S., and Mexico; representative samples from the five Spanish-speaking countries of Central America; and Chile. European countries included Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Turkey.

 

Respondents also included citizens from China, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and Australia in the greater Asian region. Polling also took place in Egypt, Ghana, and Nigeria.

 

Respondents were given a list of 15 nations and asked whether they thought those countries exercised a "mainly positive" or "mainly negative" influence on the world. The list included the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, North Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, and South Africa. The European Union (EU) was also included. Respondents could also volunteer that they were neutral or didn't know or care to express a clear opinion one way or the other.

 

As in last year's survey, Germany topped the favourable list, with an average of 61 percent of respondents describing its influence as "mainly positive" and only 15 percent who said it was "mainly negative". Canada placed second with 57 percent positive and 14 percent negative; followed by Britain (58 percent positive, 19 percent negative), Japan (56 percent, 23 percent negative), and France (51 percent positive, 21 percent negative).

 

At the other end of the scale, the most negatively viewed country was Iran with an average of 55 percent of respondents describing its influence as mainly negative and 17 percent as mainly positive. Pakistan was narrowly ahead with 55 percent negative and 17 percent positive, just behind Israel (51 percent negative, 21 percent positive), and North Korea (48 percent negative, 20 percent positive).

 

At the same time, however, pluralities or majorities in 19 out of the 21 countries rated Israel negatively - the two exceptions being the U.S. (47 percent positive, 34 percent negative) and Russia (24 percent positive, 21 percent negative). Views about Israel were most negative in Egypt (87 percent), Spain (71 percent), Turkey (70 percent), Australia (67 percent), and Germany (65 percent), according to the survey, which was completed before Israel's widely criticised military campaign against Gaza.

 

By contrast, 14 of the 21 countries saw Iran's influence as mainly negative. Although only India leaned toward seeing it in a mainly positive light (24 percent positive, 19 percent negative), five other countries were split, notably China, Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Mexico. At the same time, the survey found sharp increases in the perception of Tehran's negative influence in Egypt, the U.S. and the Philippines, compared to the previous year.

 

Eighteen countries had mainly negative views of Pakistan's influence, according to the survey, almost all of which was conducted just after the attack on Mumbai, India, widely believed to have been carried out by Pakistani-based guerrillas.

 

Among the great powers, the survey found that Russia's ratings fell the most significantly in the course of the year, no doubt due in major part to its military intervention in Georgia in August. Only 30 percent of respondents on average said they viewed Moscow's influence positively, down by five percent compared to last year, while negatives rose from 34 percent to 42 percent.

 

In 13 of the 21 countries polled, the view of Russia was most commonly negative, while in only four countries, most notably China (74 percent positive) and India (39 percent positive, 12 percent negative), were they found to be predominantly positive. Positive views fell particularly sharply in Britain, while negative views grew steeply in the U.S., France, Germany, Egypt, Turkey, and Nigeria.

 

"...The more (Russia) acts like the old Soviet Union, the less people outside its borders seem to like it," noted Doug Miller, the chairman of GlobeScan, a private firm that also helped design and oversee the survey. The latest poll revealed that the U.S. had surpassed Russia in positive ratings - at 40 percent - for the first time since 2005, although the negative ratings of both were roughly equal.

 

Despite holding a successful Olympics, China's influence on world affairs was also rated increasingly negatively in the latest survey which found world opinion roughly evenly split (39 percent positive, 40 percent negative). Views of China were most positive among developing countries, notably Ghana (75 percent), Nigeria (72 percent), and Central America, Chile, and Egypt (62 percent). Negative views grew most significantly in Western Europe, Turkey, the Philippines, and Australia.

 

In the U.S., views of China remained relatively stable over the past year (32 percent positive, 52 percent negative), as they did in Russia (45 percent positive, 18 percent negative).

 

Views of the U.S. showed improvements in Canada, Egypt, Ghana, India, Italy and Japan. On the other hand, twice as many countries still held predominantly negative views of the U.S. than predominantly positive views. Countries with the most negative views included Germany and Russia (65 percent); Central America (64 percent); Turkey (63 percent); China (58 percent); Australia (56 percent); and Washington's closest neighbours: Canada (55 percent), and Mexico (54 percent).

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U.S. image picks up, China and Russia worsen: poll

 

 

 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/gc07/idUKTRE5153IR20090206

 

 

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The image of the United States around the world has improved in the past year while China and Russia's standing in other countries has slipped, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.

 

However, the public's view of the United States remains mainly negative, despite the election of President Barack Obama, the global poll for the BBC World Service found.

 

America's positive rating rose five points to 40 percent while negatives dipped four points to 43 percent, the poll said.

 

Pollster GlobeScan, working with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, questioned 13,575 people in 20 countries and Central America in the 10 weeks ended February 1.

 

They were asked about their views of 15 selected countries and the European Union.

 

In a similar poll a year ago, people leaned toward saying China and Russia had a positive influence in the world.

 

But views of China are now divided with 40 percent rating it negatively (up seven points from last year) compared with 39 percent who viewed it positively (down six points).

 

The poll offered no reason for the decline in perception of China, which hosted a widely-praised Olympic Games in 2008 but also faced protests against Chinese rule in Tibet.

 

People with a negative view of Russia rose eight points from last year to 42 percent while those with a positive view fell five points to 30 percent.

 

The poll did not explore the reasons for the change in people's perceptions, but the pollsters said Russia's military action against Georgia last year and increasing limitations on civil rights may be affecting U.S. and European attitudes.

 

Most polling was done before the recent interruption in Russian gas supplies to Europe.

 

"Our poll results suggest that China has much to learn about winning hearts and minds in the world. It seems that a successful Olympic Games has not been enough to offset other concerns that people have," GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller said.

 

"As for Russia, the more it acts like the old Soviet Union, the less people outside its borders seem to like it," he said.

 

Iran, Israel and Pakistan are the three countries rated most negatively in the poll.

 

Iran -- locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear plans -- had the poorest rating of countries people were asked to rate, with negatives outweighing positives 55 per cent to 17.

 

Israel received a negative rating of 51 percent compared with 21 percent who were positive. Most polling occurred before Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza.

 

Germany was viewed most favorably, with positives at 61 percent outstripping negatives (15 percent) by four to one.

 

The EU had a mainly positive image, except in Turkey, which is locked in arduous negotiations to join the bloc. Thirty-four percent of Turks viewed the EU positively (down 10 points) while 44 percent had a negative view (up four points).