Russia, Iran, Israel and China rank worst for global influence, while EU seen as preferred model over Britain and US

Key points

1. Russia, Iran, Israel, and China are perceived to have the most negative influence on the world stage, with increasing negative perceptions since this survey was last run in 2019.
2. Across the 31 countries covered in the survey, perceptions of the United States and Great Britain have remained relatively stable, with more people believing that Britain uses its influence for good than bad, while opinions on the US are more evenly split.
3. The majority of those surveyed (57%) would like their country to emulate the political and economic model of the European Union, followed by Britain (50%), the US (47%), and China (34%).
4. Perceptions of America's global influence have improved in many countries since 2019, but not in the United States itself, where the share of Americans who believe the US mostly uses its influence for good has declined.
5. Canada is seen as having the most positive global influence, closely followed by the United Nations and Germany, while there are significant differences in perceptions of global influence between countries.

A new global survey conducted by Ipsos and the Policy Institute at King's College London explores people’s perception of the influence of 14 key nations and institutions around the world.

Across the 31 countries, Russia, Iran, Israel, and China are seen as having the most negative impact globally, with perceptions of these countries becoming increasingly negative over the past five years.

The study compares attitudes in 2024 with those from 2019 and finds a significant rise in the share of people who feel Russia has a largely negative influence (+22 percentage points). The proportion saying the same about China (+10pts), Israel (+9pts), and Iran (+5pts) has also increased.

In contrast, perceptions of Great Britain and the United States have remained relatively stable. 

The survey finds that 26% across 31 countries believe Britain mostly uses its influence for good, more than double the share who say the opposite (11%). Opinion on the US is more evenly split, with 21% saying it has a mostly good influence and 19% saying it has a mostly bad influence.

The share of Britons who feel their nation should emulate the US has risen from 24% to 35% over the last five years. However, this is still far behind the levels of support for Britain to emulate the European Union (59%).

Among European nations, Poland is the only country where a majority (52%) wish to follow the American approach.

Perceptions of America's global influence have improved in many countries, such as Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, and Britain. However, the opposite trend is observed in the US itself, where the proportion of Americans who say the US mostly uses its influence for good has fallen from 48% to 34% since 2019.

We see a similar pattern here, with Britons now less likely to see their country as a force for good around the world, with the share declining from 40% to 32% between 2019 and 2024.

Although Britain’s image is holding up well overall, perceptions have worsened in the US and Canada, with the proportion of Americans who feel this way about Britain declining by 13 points and among Canadians by 10 points.

The survey also finds 14 countries where majorities would like their country to emulate Britain's political and economic model. However, none of these are in Europe with Poland (49%) and Italy (48%) being the most likely to want to follow Britain's example.

Commenting on the findings, Ipsos Chief Knowledge Officer Simon Atkinson said: 

This poll vividly shows Russia’s fall from grace in the eyes of the public around the world. Meanwhile, the international reputations of Britain and the US have proved relatively resilient over the five-year period, despite their own citizens becoming less confident that their respective countries are using their influence as a force for good.

Technical note

These are the results of a 31-country survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform and, in India, on its IndiaBus platform, between Friday, March 22, 2024 and Friday, April 5, 2024. For this survey, Ipsos interviewed a total of 23,800 adults aged 18 years and older in India, 18-74 in Canada, Republic of Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore, and 16-74 in all other countries. The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll where N=1,000 being accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of where N=500 being accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points.