Actually, the rest of the world thinks America is as important and powerful as it was a decade ago

[sinkspur]

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 ago




Donald 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:

[Norm Lenhart]

I ask people of faith to join me in a small prayer...

Lord, thank you for showing us that America is not the sole repository of stupidity and delusional thinking.

Amen.

[unknown]

Well that is good.

They just can't see and smell the rot within.

Maybe if we can keep Hillary from getting elected the internal gangrene can be cut out before the stench of corruption wafts elsewhere.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

http://www.aei.org/publication/world-thinks-america-is-as-important-powerful-as-decade-ago/

[jmyrlefuller]

The stats show a very telling trend.

Note the anglophone countries: the UK, Canada, Australia.

In the UK, a country that knows a thing or two about imperial decline, 10 percentage points more people think the U.S. is less powerful than think it is more powerful (29-19). In Canada, the spread is even higher (36-20), and even more Australia (40-13). Both Canada and Australia see China as more powerful than the U.S.

This is where social media has influenced our views so much. Americans now see the views of Canadians, Australians and Britons on a personal level never seen before. Americans see them and want to be like them; they think we're somehow savages for not adopting a national health care/insurance system, for example. This talk is driven by these foreigners who want to feel superior over us.