"U.S. Reputation Falls Below China"...Shocking International Poll Results

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

According to Niradata's survey, the U.S.'s international reputation index was recorded at -5%, lower than that of China.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, founder of AoD, pointed out that President Trump's policies are the main reason for the decline in the U.S.'s reputation.
In this survey, countries like Switzerland and Singapore recorded high reputation indices, ranking among the top among major countries.

An international poll released on the 12th (local time) shows that the reputation of the U.S. in the international community has fallen below that of China since the second Trump administration took office.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the polling company Niradata at the request of the Danish non-profit organization Alliance of Democracies (AoD) last month, which assessed the reputation of democracy in 100 countries worldwide and presented it as an index in the form of a percentage from -100% to +100%, the U.S. reputation index was -5%. This means that there were more respondents who viewed the U.S. negatively than those who did not.

In a survey conducted a year before President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. had a reputation of +22%, but it has dropped significantly this year. As a result, it recorded a worse reputation than its hegemonic competitor, China (+14%). China's reputation has actually improved compared to last year's +5%.

Moreover, the U.S. Democracy Reputation Index (DPI) compiled by AoD was similar to that of Russia (-9%), which has been at war with Ukraine for three years, and was on par with Argentina (-1%), Iraq (-10%), and Hungary (-10%).

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, founder of AoD and former NATO Secretary General and Danish Prime Minister, pointed to President Trump as the cause of the U.S.'s declining reputation.

According to Reuters, Rasmussen said, "Trump has sparked a trade war and scolded the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office," adding, "He has weakened alliances and empowered adversaries."

He further commented, "It's not so surprising that even among people like me who have long admired the U.S. and the values it represents, the reputation of the U.S. has declined."

In this survey, South Korea's reputation index was +15%. How South Korea's reputation index was calculated was not disclosed. Among major countries, Switzerland had the highest reputation index at +48%, followed by Singapore (+46%), Qatar (+40%), Canada (+40%), and Jordan (+39%). The countries with the lowest scores were Iran (-25%), Israel (-23%), and Belarus (-21%).

This survey was conducted from the 9th to the 23rd of last month, targeting 111,273 people in 100 countries, asking for their opinions on neighboring countries.

Minseong Hong, Hankyung.com reporter mshong@hankyung.com