“Some bash the U.S., some are still part of the blame America first crowd. But the favorability numbers on the U.S. can’t be denied. America is No. 1. on the planet according to a massive new Gallup pol.
“Russia in 2014 earned the lowest approval ratings globally for the eighth consecutive year and posted the highest disapproval ratings it has received to date. U.S. leadership received the highest approval rating in the world, with the median 45 percent approval topping ratings of the leadership of the European Union, Germany, Russia and China - as it has most years since 2009,” reports Gallup analyst Jon Clifton.
The findings were based on a Gallup World Poll of 21,000 people in 21 nations, released Wednesday.
“Russians gave the U.S. and the EU the lowest approval ratings in the world and the highest disapproval ratings. Russians’ disapproval of the U.S. nearly doubled from 42 percent in 2013 to 82 percent in 2014,” Mr. Clifton says, reporting similar figures for the EU.
But even as relations frayed with the West, Russians looked East with more favor. Russians’ approval of China’s leadership jumped to a record 42 percent, likely reflecting the $400 billion gas deal the country inked with China in May 2014,” he continues.
“While it does not seem like the relationship between Russia and the West is anywhere near what it was during the Cold War years, the emerging gulf in attitudes among their respective publics is troubling,” Mr. Clifton later concludes.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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