The BBC World Service run an annual poll taken from 28 countries to decide which nation is viewed most favourably.
America, for the first time, is viewed as more positive than negative although my suspicions are that has more to do with George W Bush leaving office than anything Obama has done on the global stage which doesn't seem that much to me.
The most favourably viewed country was Germany followed by Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and France.
The nation viewed least favourably is Iran, then Pakistan, North Korea and then Israel.
I can see the attraction of Germany and Japan, both countries that seem to have learnt from their history, but as the UK has followed Bush's America around like a lovesick puppy for the best part of a decade, i can't see why we are sailing so high in the poll.
Likewise, i wouldn't fancy visiting any of those countries at the bottom of the pile. Iran and Pakistan are just about ready to explode while North Korea is a basket case of a country and Israel are the worlds pariahs for a very good reason.
The superpowers, America, Russia and China are all sat around the middle with a fairly neutral view but superpowers are always going to divide opinion anyway.
9 comments:
"as the UK has followed Bush's America around like a lovesick puppy for the best part of a decade, i can't see why we are sailing so high in the poll."
Maybe it's 'the Hugh factor'? We appear so affable and charmingly incompetent that people find it hard to believe what bastards we are...!
hanz,
very interesting. several thoughts come to mind.
1. I wonder how many americans were polled? Few of us watch, listen too, or watch the BBC.
2. I wonder if it was a scientific poll? to be "scientific" you essentially have to have a minimum of 1,000 in the sample (gvies you that + or - 5% accruacy) and the people polled have to be chosen completely randomly (acutaqlly not easy to do).
3. I wonder how many of the liked countries essentially count on NATO (ie the USA military) for defense and as such have a small military presence in the world.
I think i'll go find the article...
q
hanz,
fun article to read. of course, i was looking for weaknesses in the report. here is what i found...
- not a "truely" random poll since it was limited to urban areas in most nations that received the poll
- not random poll since it was only 26 nations
i also noticed the following...
- nations that do very little outside of their borders got the best ratings.
- the EU was presented as a nation
- only 13 nations were rated and they tend to fall into 4 major groups...
Old communist alliance - China, Russia, NKorea
Nato/West - france, UK, Germany, US, Japan, Israel
Developing - brazil
Islamic - Pakistan, Iran
- I can't help but wonder how the results would change if a lot more nations were rated.
we don't you and cheezy get that started!?
q
Que?
Could be Cheezy, our stutter and floppy fringes.
I may have it wrong Q but i thought it said 30,000 people questioned in 28 countries. I didn't provide the link so will go look afterwards.
I'm not sure how the 28 countries were chosen but it seems a fair representation and a large database from all the continents.
You don't what and what should Cheezy and i get started? Rate more countries?
You really are Lucy's prodigy with sentences like 'Israel are the worlds pariahs for a very good reason'.
Lucy in boxer shorts obviously.
hanz,
they polled 500 people in each of 28 countries, but only asked them to rate the countries i listed...
i meant why don't you and cheezy start your own poll and rate all the countries (i was just trying to engage cheezy)...
q
I try not to make sweeping generalisations about 'countries' as a whole*, so I'd respectfully decline that offer. I don't mind reading what others think though - it's all part of life's rich pageant.
* Aside from making jokes about Australians of course - that's my birthright.
Nice idea for a post though q.
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