Global attitudes toward the United States have worsened for a second year in a row and now register lower than views of Russia, according to the Democracy Perception Index released by the Denmark-based Alliance of Democracies Foundation on Friday.
The foundation, which says its mission is to defend and advance democratic values, reported that when respondents were asked which country poses the greatest threat to the world, the U.S. was the country most frequently named after Russia and Israel. The survey itself did not lay out the criteria used by respondents to make those judgments.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, founder of the Alliance and former NATO Secretary General, said the decline in global perception of the United States is distressing but not unexpected. "The fast decline of the United States' perception around the world is saddening but not shocking," he said. "U.S. foreign policy over the past 18 months has, among other things, called into question the transatlantic relationship, imposed widespread tariffs, and threatened to invade a NATO ally's territory."
The report cites a number of policy moves and developments tied to the Trump administration that it says have strained relations with U.S. allies. Those points include the imposition of tariffs, repeated threats regarding Greenland - which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and linked to NATO through Denmark - reductions in aid to Ukraine, and a U.S.-Israeli military response against Iran accompanied by a resulting rise in oil prices.
The study adds that European reluctance to deploy naval forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for global shipping after the start of air operations against Iran angered the U.S. administration. In April, the report notes, President Trump said he had considered withdrawing the United States from NATO, a remark the Alliance said further weakened the alliance.
The Democracy Perception Index produces a net perception score that ranges from -100% to +100%. The latest results show the net perception of the United States swung to -16% from +22% two years earlier. By that measure, the U.S. ranked below Russia, at -11%, and China, at +7%. The report did not offer an explanation for the relatively positive net score for China.
Polling firm Nira Data carried out the survey between March 19 and April 21. The overall pool included more than 94,000 respondents across 98 countries. Country-level perceptions were measured in a subset sample of 46,600 respondents in 85 countries, the Alliance said.
The report was published ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, scheduled to take place on May 12. The Alliance used the findings to underline concerns about shifting international views of democratic powers and transatlantic cohesion, while leaving some questions - such as the drivers of China’s positive rating - unexplained in the published material.
Methodology and context
The survey's mechanics are summarized by the Alliance and Nira Data: fieldwork ran from March 19 to April 21, covering more than 94,000 respondents in 98 countries, with a focused sample of 46,600 respondents for country perception measures in 85 countries. The Alliance released the report in the run-up to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 12.