n April 2023, Gallup Inc., an American analytics and advisory company, released its Global Leadership Report containing the continental perspectives on some global powers (the U.S., Germany, Russia, and China). The report came out at a critical geopolitical juncture and considered the most recent events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the China-U.S. economic decoupling.
The major finding is a strict correlation between time-sensitive issues and the approval rates of the countries involved. A significant example is Russia's positive perception collapse worldwide in 2022, particularly in the West. Its leadership disapproval reached a record high of 93% in the United States and 91% in Canada.
Moscow's perception also dropped in Asia, a disputed region with Beijing. As I argued in this article for the Diplomatic Courier, the two countries have sought to increase their influence in the post-Soviet space in recent decades. They used soft power strategies to support more traditional economic tools (investment and trade) and diplomatic dialogues.
In addition, high-income, Western-aligned democracies are among the most critical of Russia. This fact threatens the Kremlin long-term because economic and diplomatic isolation will probably last even after the Ukraine issue, forcing Moscow to establish new ties with countries with poor resources and limited technological know-how.
The U.S. experienced a slight decrease in popularity worldwide between 2021 and 2022. Some geopolitical events explain this trend, particularly the ongoing troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, the country had fully recovered from the sharp decline in popularity (-20%) that occurred after Donald Trump's election in 2016.
The United States still ranks first or second in every continent. In Africa, it leads the race with a 59% approval rate, followed by a 52% approval toward China. Considering Beijing's China's Africa Strategy—a plan of massive economic investment in the continent—its policymakers should constantly observe this trend and try to reduce the gap as much as possible.
Libya and Tunisia are two counter-trend African cases because they highly disapprove of the United States, with 20% and 21% approval rates, respectively. International events help us to understand why. In the first case, the NATO-led intervention in 2011 deposed the dictator Muammar Gaddafi, generating excitement among some civil society sectors—an opinion essay from the New York Times in mid-2011 titled "From Libyans, Thank You, America." More than 10 years later, the ongoing civil war and the failures of diplomatic efforts have increased resentment against the West, particularly the U.S.
Tunisia is openly clashing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it seeks to obtain a $1.9 billion loan. As I argued in the pages of the Diplomatic Courier, Tunisian President Kais Saied used anti-Western propaganda to bolster the country's nationalistic factions hostile to the IMF and its demands for domestic reform. This strategy greatly impacted Tunisians, who perceived the United States with increasing frustration and anger.
Since the rise of Xi Jinping as Chinese president, the country has changed its international attitude, moving away from Deng Xiaoping's “bide and hide” philosophy based on cautious actions and focus on economic growth. China has adopted a more aggressive regional and global foreign policy to disrupt the myth of the United States as a "benevolent nation." This attempt has failed so far: Beijing's approval rate is lower than Washington's on all continents.
As suggested by Maria Repnikova on Foreign Affairs, "soft power has been treated as a hopeful idea in China: an important additive to the country's rise, especially its economic expansion." This strategy came together with growing material generosity, such as Xi's pledges of $500 million to help development in post-Soviet countries. However, human rights violations and the so-called debt-trap diplomacy—a tool to exert political influence on developing nations—still harm the Chinese approval rate worldwide.
Germany has a high approval rate on all continents (56% in Europe, 51% in Africa, 39% in Asia, and 29% in the Americas). These results make the country the true center of European politics, especially during the instability caused by the invasion of Ukraine. This above-average trend is rooted in Germany's solid democratic institutions, economic strength, and discreet foreign policy.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently relaunched Germany's role in Europe with the so-called Zeitenwende. In an article on Foreign Affairs, he stated, "In today's densely interconnected world, the goal of advancing peace, prosperity, and human freedom calls for a different mindset and different tools. Developing that mindset and those tools is ultimately what the Zeitenwende is all about."
Germany thus remains the country to closely monitor until next year to see if these ambitions will succeed in increasing its global approval rate or not.
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While U.S. Ranks High, Germany is Global Leader to Watch
Germany's Reichstag. German leadership was more popular than any other country's leadership among those polled by Gallup. Photo by J. Kau on Unsplash
May 24, 2023
Gallup recently released its comprehensive Global Leadership Report, measuring popular approval of foreign leaders the world over. Diplomatic Courier correspondent Elia Preto Martini reviews the report, emphasizing the correlation between time sensitive issues and approval rate swings.
I
n April 2023, Gallup Inc., an American analytics and advisory company, released its Global Leadership Report containing the continental perspectives on some global powers (the U.S., Germany, Russia, and China). The report came out at a critical geopolitical juncture and considered the most recent events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the China-U.S. economic decoupling.
The major finding is a strict correlation between time-sensitive issues and the approval rates of the countries involved. A significant example is Russia's positive perception collapse worldwide in 2022, particularly in the West. Its leadership disapproval reached a record high of 93% in the United States and 91% in Canada.
Moscow's perception also dropped in Asia, a disputed region with Beijing. As I argued in this article for the Diplomatic Courier, the two countries have sought to increase their influence in the post-Soviet space in recent decades. They used soft power strategies to support more traditional economic tools (investment and trade) and diplomatic dialogues.
In addition, high-income, Western-aligned democracies are among the most critical of Russia. This fact threatens the Kremlin long-term because economic and diplomatic isolation will probably last even after the Ukraine issue, forcing Moscow to establish new ties with countries with poor resources and limited technological know-how.
The U.S. experienced a slight decrease in popularity worldwide between 2021 and 2022. Some geopolitical events explain this trend, particularly the ongoing troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, the country had fully recovered from the sharp decline in popularity (-20%) that occurred after Donald Trump's election in 2016.
The United States still ranks first or second in every continent. In Africa, it leads the race with a 59% approval rate, followed by a 52% approval toward China. Considering Beijing's China's Africa Strategy—a plan of massive economic investment in the continent—its policymakers should constantly observe this trend and try to reduce the gap as much as possible.
Libya and Tunisia are two counter-trend African cases because they highly disapprove of the United States, with 20% and 21% approval rates, respectively. International events help us to understand why. In the first case, the NATO-led intervention in 2011 deposed the dictator Muammar Gaddafi, generating excitement among some civil society sectors—an opinion essay from the New York Times in mid-2011 titled "From Libyans, Thank You, America." More than 10 years later, the ongoing civil war and the failures of diplomatic efforts have increased resentment against the West, particularly the U.S.
Tunisia is openly clashing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it seeks to obtain a $1.9 billion loan. As I argued in the pages of the Diplomatic Courier, Tunisian President Kais Saied used anti-Western propaganda to bolster the country's nationalistic factions hostile to the IMF and its demands for domestic reform. This strategy greatly impacted Tunisians, who perceived the United States with increasing frustration and anger.
Since the rise of Xi Jinping as Chinese president, the country has changed its international attitude, moving away from Deng Xiaoping's “bide and hide” philosophy based on cautious actions and focus on economic growth. China has adopted a more aggressive regional and global foreign policy to disrupt the myth of the United States as a "benevolent nation." This attempt has failed so far: Beijing's approval rate is lower than Washington's on all continents.
As suggested by Maria Repnikova on Foreign Affairs, "soft power has been treated as a hopeful idea in China: an important additive to the country's rise, especially its economic expansion." This strategy came together with growing material generosity, such as Xi's pledges of $500 million to help development in post-Soviet countries. However, human rights violations and the so-called debt-trap diplomacy—a tool to exert political influence on developing nations—still harm the Chinese approval rate worldwide.
Germany has a high approval rate on all continents (56% in Europe, 51% in Africa, 39% in Asia, and 29% in the Americas). These results make the country the true center of European politics, especially during the instability caused by the invasion of Ukraine. This above-average trend is rooted in Germany's solid democratic institutions, economic strength, and discreet foreign policy.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently relaunched Germany's role in Europe with the so-called Zeitenwende. In an article on Foreign Affairs, he stated, "In today's densely interconnected world, the goal of advancing peace, prosperity, and human freedom calls for a different mindset and different tools. Developing that mindset and those tools is ultimately what the Zeitenwende is all about."
Germany thus remains the country to closely monitor until next year to see if these ambitions will succeed in increasing its global approval rate or not.
