James Pethokoukis @JimPethokoukis
June 29, 2016 1:09 pm | AEIdeas
Actually, the rest of the world thinks America is as important and powerful as it was a decade agoDonald Trump, with his insult-o-matic shtick, often gets compared to comedian Don Rickles. But maybe he’s more like the late Rodney Dangerfield, always complaining about getting no respect. In his case, Trump complains about America getting no respect from its allies, rivals, or enemies.
But just how does the rest of the world view the US? Some interesting new findings from Pew Research (also see the above chart), which conducted surveys in 10 European nations and four major Asia-Pacific countries. And contra Trump, the rest of the world seems to hold the US in pretty high regard:
Across the countries surveyed, many say the US has remained as important and powerful a world leader as it was 10 years ago. At one extreme, roughly six-in-ten Japanese (61%) say the US has declined in importance over the past 10 years. By contrast, a 57% majority of Indians say the US plays a more important and powerful role as a world leader than it did a decade ago. Meanwhile, in key European nations – France, Germany, the UK, Spain and Sweden – the prevailing view is that the US is about as important and powerful as it was a decade ago.
And as far as the US-China rivalry goes, other nations mostly seem to think America is tops: