America’s popularity as a global power is waning worldwide, particularly in Muslim-majority countries, according to the 2024 Democracy Perception Index published Wednesday.
Canvassing some 63,000 respondents across 53 countries, the index summarizes attitudes toward democracy, geopolitics and global power players.
America’s international reputation has taken a hit since early 2023, particularly in Muslim countries where Washington’s unwavering support of Israel in its war in Gaza has proven intensely divisive.
Now, Europe is joining the trend. “For the first time since the start of the Biden administration, many Western European countries have returned to net negative perceptions of the U.S. This rise and decline, from negative attitudes to positive [and] back to negative attitudes is particularly stark in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland,” said Frederick DeVeaux, senior researcher for the Latana survey company that compiled the index.
Meanwhile, positive perceptions of China in Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America continue to grow, bringing the global perception of Beijing to a net positive, despite continued European skepticism.
Russia, battling overwhelmingly negative perceptions across the globe in the initial aftermath of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, also appears to be on the path to image rehabilitation in most regions surveyed, with the exception of Europe.
America’s faltering popularity, combined with Russia and China’s improved standings, means the latter are now viewed as positively as the U.S. in most Middle Eastern, North African and Asian countries surveyed.
More than a mere global popularity contest, the attitudes expressed in the index can affect the ability of governments to deter or react to aggression by global powers. In Germany, for instance, domestic discontent connected to rising energy prices fueled protests and opposition to export caps on Russian oil following Moscow’s February 2022 assault on Ukraine.
A divide between the global north and south emerged when survey respondents were asked if they thought their country should cut economic ties with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and whether they should do the same if China invaded Taiwan.
Attitudes seem to have softened, judging from a comparison of the results from 2022 and 2024. In the earlier survey, more respondents supported cutting economic ties with Russia than opposed it in 31 countries; the number is now 23.
Moreover, with a few exceptions, the majority in favor of cutting economic ties has shrunk in most countries.
While the U.S. broadly remains the top dog as far as the public are concerned on the global stage, cracks are beginning to show within the populations of once-staunch Western European allies, while Russia and China are gaining popularity in other regions.
The data used in this piece came from an annual online survey across 53 countries conducted by the Latana research company and the Alliance of Democracies non-profit. In 2022 the data was collected between March 30 and May 10; the sample was 52,785, averaging around 1,000 in each country. In 2023 the data was collected between Feb. 7 and March 27; the sample was 53,970, averaging around 1,000 per country. The 2024 data was collected between Feb. 20 and April 15; the sample was 62,953 and averaged 1,200 respondents per country. Nationally representative results were calculated based on the official distribution of age, gender and education in each country’s population, but in countries whose populations are less connected to the internet, the sample was more educated and younger than the overall average.
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