New Delhi: A new survey conducted by the American think tank Pew Research Center found that US President Joe Biden “receives mostly positive views” from countries around the world. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed across 23 countries expressed confidence in Biden, while only 39 percent said they ‘lack confidence’ in him, according to the survey.
The survey of 27,285 adults conducted between February and May of this year found that 59 per cent of those surveyed viewed the US favourably including about 7 in 10 people or more in Poland, Israel, South Korea, Nigeria, Japan and Kenya.
In India, 65 percent of respondents viewed the US favourably, while in Hungary, only 44 percent had favourable views of the United States.
Moreover, 64 percent of respondents in India said they had confidence in Biden to do the right thing in matters of world affairs — eight percentage points higher than Donald Trump, whom 56 percent of Indians surveyed in 2019 said they trusted to do the right thing.
Indians have been a part of the survey since 2013, with the highest confidence rating of 74 percent achieved in 2015 during President Obama’s tenure. Obama has been facing criticism from leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over comments he made in an interview with CNN during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘official state visit’ to the US.
Further, 31 percent of the people surveyed found the US ‘less tolerant’ than other wealthy nations, while 21 percent found the US ‘more tolerant’ than other wealthy countries.
The study also surveyed people living in the US and found that 44 per cent of the respondents said the US was ‘more tolerant’ than other wealthy countries in the world, while only 22 per cent found the US ‘less tolerant’ in comparison to other wealthy nations.
Respondents, however, were divided on how democratic the US is compared with other countries. At least 22 percent of the respondents found the US ‘less democratic’ as against 27 percent who found the US ‘more democratic’ than other wealthy nations in the world.
Asked whether the US was ‘more dangerous’ than other wealthy countries, 28 percent replied in the affirmative, while 18 percent said they found it ‘less dangerous’. Whereas 32 percent of those surveyed in the US found it ‘more dangerous’ than other wealthy nations in the world in comparison to only 28 percent that found it ‘less dangerous’.
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Perspectives on President Biden
As many as 83 percent of those surveyed in Poland said they had confidence in Biden to do the right thing in matters of world affairs.
In contrast, in Hungary, 75 percent of those surveyed said they had no confidence in Biden to do the right thing. Only 19 percent of Hungarians surveyed said they had confidence in Biden, a record low, given the drop of 12 percentage points since 2022.
Hungary is not the only North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member-state, where the public, in general, was found to have no confidence or low confidence in Biden. In Spain, France, Greece and Italy, other NATO allies as well, at least half or more of the people surveyed said they had limited trust in Biden to do the right thing.
The survey also found a significant change in the responses of those surveyed in countries like Mexico and Brazil on whether they trusted the US President.
In 2019, only 8 percent of Mexicans expressed confidence in Trump, while in 2023, 43 percent said they trusted Biden — an increase of 35 percentage points. Similarly, in Brazil, 28 percent of those surveyed said they trusted Trump in 2019 whereas, in 2023, 44 percent expressed confidence in Biden – an increase of 16 percentage points.
Confidence in Biden across the world was found to be higher than Trump’s highest ratings in every country surveyed, except Israel and Hungary.
US’s role in world affairs
The survey asked participants about how they felt about the US’s role in world affairs in the context of whether the US considers the interests of other countries, interferes in other countries’ affairs and contributes to peace and stability around the world.
At least 50 percent of those surveyed said they believed the US did not consider the interests of other countries when making international policy decisions. This sentiment was strong in Europe, where 50 percent or more from 8 out of 10 European countries surveyed did not believe that the US takes into account the interests of other countries.
In Spain and Hungary, both NATO allies, 80 percent of respondents said they did not believe that the US takes into account the interests of their countries before making an international policy decision.
Other countries where this sentiment was found to be strong include the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Sweden and France. Only in Poland and Germany did a majority of the respondents said they believed that the US takes into account their interests.
In contrast, 80 percent of those surveyed in Israel, and 72 per cent in India and Kenya said they believed that the US takes into account their countries’ interests before making a decision.
Apart from these three countries, a majority of those surveyed in Germany, Poland, Nigeria, Indonesia and Brazil believed that the US does take into account their interests when formulating international policy decisions.
As many as 82 percent of all respondents said they believed that the US interferes in other countries’ affairs, while only 15 percent said that it does not interfere much.
On the other side, 93 percent of those surveyed in Italy and Greece said they believed that the US interferes a great deal in the affairs of other countries. In India, 68 percent of respondents said they believed that the US does interfere in the affairs of other countries, while 26 percent said it was their understanding that the US does not interfere much or at all.
According to the study, in 16 countries, men are more likely than women to say that the US interferes in the affairs of other countries a great deal. For example, the survey highlights how 46 percent of men in the Netherlands held this opinion as against 27 percent of women.
In total, 61 percent of the people surveyed said they believed that the US contributes to global peace and stability, in comparison to 38 percent who differed.
About 6 out of 10 people in Greece, Hungary and Argentina said they did not believe that the US contributes to global peace and stability.
In Canada, Australia and many European countries, adults aged 40 or more are more likely to believe than those aged 18 to 39 that the US contributes to world peace and security.
In Sweden, those aged 40 or more were 23 percent more likely to say that the US contributes to peace and stability.
Whereas in India, South Korea and Brazil, the opposite is true. Younger people are more likely to believe that the US contributes to global peace and stability than older people.
Of the eight middle-income countries surveyed — as designated by the World Bank — only respondents in Argentina believed that investment from the US has not benefited their country. A majority in the other seven middle-income countries surveyed, namely Nigeria, Kenya, India, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia said they believed that investment from the US has largely benefited their countries.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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