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Russian image has deteriorated - BBC World Service poll from BBC.com People's views of Russia have strongly deteriorated since last year, according to the latest 24-country poll for the BBC World Service. The poll, which was mostly conducted before the crisis in Crimea, showed people were more negative about Russia in the past year than they had been at any time since the poll began in 2005. It also found that views of the US and the EU had worsened. But Germany has kept its position as the most positively viewed country. Iran and North Korea attracted the most negative ratings. The Country Ratings Poll of 24 nations was conducted by GlobeScan/Pipa. Between December 2013 and April 2014, a total of 24,542 people were asked to rate 16 countries and the EU on whether their influence in the world was "mostly positive" or "mostly negative."  Negative views of Russia now average 45% across the countries polled. They largely outweigh positive views (31% ), and have gone up four points since 2013. The worsening opinion of Russia is a general trend, but is particularly marked in Kenya (up 16 points), Spain (up 15 points), Brazil (up 13 points) and Canada (up 12 points). Views of the US have deteriorated among citizens of Spain (where negative views are up 19 points), Germany (up 18 points) and Brazil (up 15 points). GlobeScan's Lionel Bellier added: "It is probably not a coincidence that the nations that showed the sharpest increases in negative views of the United States - Spain, Germany, and Brazil - are ones where extensive US surveillance activity has been discovered and widely criticised." Perceptions of the EU are at their worst globally since the poll began. In Spain, Germany and France, negative ratings of the EU have increased by 19, 10, and 7 points respectively. Meanwhile, 60% of people polled gave Germany a positive rating. ------------------------------------------------------ Analysis by Emily Buchanan, BBC News Views of Russia have continued to deteriorate amongst people across all continents. The survey was taken in the year building up to events in Crimea, so it's not surprising that the most unfavourable views are found in Europe. On the other hand, Chinese opinions of Russia have warmed considerably. The reputation of the US recovered over the course of President Barack Obama's first term, but ratings have since slipped, particularly in Spain, Germany and Brazil. Researchers put this down to bad publicity over US government surveillance programmes. Languishing at the bottom of the popularity stakes are Iran, Pakistan and North Korea - all countries with negative media images. The big question the survey raises is how far people's views are simply influenced by the tone of the coverage a nation receives. ------------------------------------------------ UK 'most improved' The UK is the country whose perceived influence in the world has most improved from 2005 to the present day. Positive views of the UK have gone up six points, from 52% to 58% since the first poll. Steven Kull, director of Pipa, said most of the polling took place before the crisis in Crimea, but the data collection overlapped the Sochi Olympic Games and the freeing of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the members of Pussy Riot. "It was also a period during which Putin had pressed Ukraine to not move toward the EU, and when the first riots took place in the streets of Kiev," he said.  I leave no trace of wings in the air, but I am glad I have had my flight. ---- Rabindranath Tagore |
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I think Spain and Brazil, due to their economies and the fact they don't have high volume lucrative agreements or goods to export to the US may be much of their issues. Example: Spain has a challenge in unemployment statistics, they have a 26% unemployment rates. It is for certain, Spain is not happy that China gets to export more to the US than Spain can, so the high level animosity of these nations when they have these high unemployment rates and can't break into the mass supply business to uplift their nation. It's quite certain people won't think favorable of various others. Spain still fights its battles trying to reclaim things it lost Centuries Ago. Spain is a big country, but it has never regained its historical position among nations that it once had. Brazil that is a mixed bag of many things, including political among the socioeconomic elements EVERY NATION is STRONGLY engaged in information gathering. Germany on the other hand, has been pro-active in taking bold steps to deal with it's impending aging of society. Therefore it has become very focused on women and birth. they have always had a good Mechanical-Technical Skill Level. In some ways, since 1945 Germany has had much invested in it, during the re-education of its masses, after the great tragedies of Hitler's programming. So, it had to make many turns in many ways to become what it has become today. Iran, Pakistan, Syria and for Sure N. Korea, has a tough road ahead, because of the extremism, and the other matter, of such like Pakistan trying to play both side and got exposed with the long term housing of Bin Laden, Syria with the sham of an election in the middle of chaos, and N. Korea is just play nutty and a disaster for its people. Russian wants to play up to them, because it wants that labor pool among trying to get some strategic positioning, and its Hoping that China will make an Alliance to not challenge its stand in doing so. India has a good tech sector, but it has a very challenging religious structure within its midst, and it has a billion plus people to concern itself with. South Africa has a ways to go, its going to take it a while to find its path after the long history of Apartheid, its has much work to build itself up in the global playing field as a high producer of global consumer supplier. There's a lot of variables at play when it comes to measuring up nation against nation. Russia has developed a new form of bully credentials, arrogance and overt aggression, it seeks to make alliance with any nations that has any type of conflicting challenge with the West. This is not good for Russia nor those who make overlapping alliance with Russia under these ideological driving forces.
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