Whatever happened?
Iran, the United States and Russia -- in that order -- are now the most hated countries in the world, according to a new worldwide survey by GlobeScan and the BBC.
The poll asked people in 33 major countries how they felt about other nations. Because of Iran's political changes and tensions over its nuclear ambitions, it was included in the survey for the first time.That was good news for the deeply unpopular United States, which slipped from the No. 1 most-despised slot to No. 2 with an overall 41% negative rating.
While the USA was the least popular country in the 2004 global survey, the addition of Iran to the list doesn't mean people feel any better about America.
In fact, the "world's only superpower" is 5% more disliked today than a year ago, on average.
Russia also lost global goodwill as news of Vladimir Putin's authoritarian regime continues to darken perceptions of the former superpower.
It appears that world public opinion does not look kindly on governments engaging in suspicious nuclear activities as is the case of Iran, becoming more authoritarian as in the case of Russia, or occupying another country without international approval as in the case of the U.S.," said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes.
Americans like their own country a lot less than just a year ago, the study reveals. "Ratings have significantly declined," GlobeScan says.Some 40,000 people gave their opinions between October 2005 and January 2006. The results were released today.
sploid.com
2 comments:
Sadly, far to many Americans never leave these shores to really understand what that "hatred" is really all about.
STB
We always have houseguests from Europe, several times a year.
Until you hear and see things through their eyes, you never truly get the joke that we are, indeed, a big joke to the rest of the world.
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