List of Countries Seen as Our Closest Allies, According to Harris Poll

Harris Interactive ^ | September 1, 2004 | The Harris Poll

[yonif]

The Harris Poll^® #62, September 1, 2004

Britain, Canada, Australia, Israel and Japan Top the List of Countries Seen as Our Closest Allies, According to Harris Poll

The Iraq effect continues: attitudes toward France and Germany are still much more critical than in 2002

Every year at this time Harris Interactive® asks a nationwide cross section of Americans how they feel about a list of countries with a scale varying from "close ally" at one end to "unfriendly" at the other. In this year’s survey, Great Britain, Canada and Australia continue to lead the list as our closest allies, followed by Israel and Japan. Many of the 25 countries included in the list have not changed their ratings or positions substantially since last year.

The Iraq effect

The quite sharp changes which we reported last year, resulting from the situation in Iraq, have not been reversed. France, the country which was most outspoken in its opposition to the Iraq war, slipped all the way from eighth place to 18th place last year. This year it is in 17th place, and fully 42 percent of Americans think of France as less than friendly. Germany, which was almost as strong in its criticism of the U.S. in Iraq, fell from sixth to 14th place last year. This year it is in 10th place and 25 percent of Americans still think of it as less than friendly.

In addition to the five countries (mentioned above) which are most widely perceived to be close allies, other countries which are viewed favorably as friends or close allies by substantial numbers are Mexico, Italy, South Korea, Spain and the Netherlands.

Countries perceived as "not friendly"

The countries which the largest number of people see as "not friendly" or worse are China (54%), Pakistan (49%), France (42%) and Colombia (40%).

Countries about which many people have no opinions

More than 80 percent of all adults have an opinion, positive or negative, about most of the countries listed. However, substantial numbers have no opinion about Chile (38%), Argentina (31%), Norway (30%), Brazil (27%), the Netherlands (26%), Colombia (25%) and South Africa (24%).

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,012 adults surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive between August 10 and 15, 2004.

TABLE 1

HOW AMERICANS VIEW 25 COUNTRIES

"Do you feel that (READ EACH ITEM) is a close ally of the U.S., is friendly but not a close ally, is not friendly but not an enemy, or is unfriendly and is an enemy of the U.S.?"

Base: All Adults

Rank Now			Close Ally	Friendly Not Close Ally	Not Friendly, Not Enemy	Unfriendly /Enemy	Not Sure/ Refused	Rank in:
								2002	2003
1	Great Britain	%	70	14	6	*	9	1	1
2	Canada	%	51	29	9	1	9	2	2
3	Australia	%	45	32	10	*	13	3	3
4	Israel	%	43	26	16	4	10	4	4
5	Japan	%	33	34	16	5	13	=8	=6
6	Mexico	%	29	44	14	2	11	=6	5
7	Italy	%	27	43	11	1	18	5	=6
8	South Korea	%	25	28	23	12	13	14	9
9	Spain	%	20	43	18	3	17	=12	8
=10	Germany	%	19	40	21	4	15	=6	=14
=10	Holland (Netherlands)	%	19	39	15	1	26	=10	10
=12	Sweden	%	18	41	20	2	20	=10	=12
=12	Taiwan	%	18	33	19	7	22	=15	=12
14	Norway	%	17	38	15	*	30	=12	11
=15	Greece	%	16	45	17	1	22	=15	16
=15	South Africa	%	16	35	22	2	24	=18	=18
=17	Brazil	%	15	36	21	1	27	20	=14
=17	France	%	15	35	32	10	8	=8	=18
=17	India	%	15	33	30	2	20	17	21
=20	Russia	%	11	40	33	4	12	=18	=18
=20	Argentina	%	11	34	22	2	31	=21	17
=22	Chile	%	10	27	24	2	38	23	=22
=22	Pakistan	%	10	26	25	24	15	24	=22
24	Colombia	%	7	27	27	13	25	=21	=22
25	China	%	6	26	38	16	14	25	25

TABLE 2

HOW AMERICANS VIEW NATIONS -- TRENDS ON "CLOSE ALLY" SINCE 1982

"Do you feel that (READ EACH ITEM) is a close ally of the U.S., is friendly but not a close ally, is not friendly but not an enemy, or is unfriendly and is an enemy of the U.S.?"

Base: All Adults

	1982	1983	1985	1991	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Great Britain	58		62		61	56	59	62	63	65	66	63	80	64	74	70
Canada	63	58				61	62	70	73	70	69	63	73	60	57	51
Australia						36	36	47	48	43	45	42	47	43	53	45
Israel	33		34	44	26	26	27	32	29	31	37	31	38	37	44	43
Japan	35			27	13	14	14	19	21	19	23	23	26	28	32	33
Mexico		31				25	24	33	30	31	31	28	40	29	33	29
Italy												27	37	30	32	27
South Korea														21	25	25
Spain												21	27	23	30	20
Germany	32			27	21	22	22	30	29	29	32	29	39	29	19	19
Holland (Nether lands)												22	22	24	22	19
Sweden														24	20	18
Taiwan							14	18	20	21	21	19	22	17	20	18
Norway													20	23	21	17
Greece													18	17	16	16
South Africa								15	14			9	13	12	13	16
Brazil						11	10	15	14	15	15	11	15	11	19	15
France					25	29	27	36	36	33	38	38	41	28	13	15
India													8	13	12	15
Russia (Soviet Union)	(7)	(2)	(1)	(14)	10	7	4	8	6	6	6	5	17	12	13	11
Argen tina					7			10	11			7	9	10	14	11
Chile												5	7	9	8	10
Pakistan														8	8	10
Colom bia													8	10	8	7
China	15		5			4	3	5	6	4	6	3	11	5	7	6

NOTES:

1) Blanks where not asked.

2) Results in ( ) indicate the former use of the words "Soviet Union" before the current use of the word "Russia."

TABLE 3

THOSE WHO VIEW COUNTRIES AS NOT FRIENDLY

(Includes net percentages for "not friendly but not an enemy" and "unfriendly and is an enemy" responses)

"Do you feel that (READ EACH ITEM) is a close ally of the U.S., is friendly but not a close ally, is not friendly but not an enemy, or is unfriendly and is an enemy of the U.S.?"

Base: All Adults

	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
China	59	69	59	60	57	63	64	49	56	54	54
Pakistan									54	52	49
France	15	14	18	15	18	18	14	11	25	43	42
Colombia								41	48	43	40
Russia	38	51	43	45	48	54	50	33	38	37	37
South Korea									33	36	35
India								29	32	29	32
Taiwan		27	25	24	26	26	25	18	26	25	26
Chile							29	17	27	23	26
Germany	19	19	21	21	20	24	20	10	19	28	25
South Africa					33	31	26	21	24	28	24
Argentina	25				26	23	25	16	24	19	24
Brazil	16	22	20	21	22	22	23	16	22	23	22
Sweden									13	20	22
Japan	30	33	32	27	31	28	29	24	24	22	21
Spain							16	12	19	20	21
Israel	29	29	28	32	30	23	24	24	22	19	20
Greece								15	20	21	18
Mexico	19	14	18	20	21	24	20	14	21	20	16
Holland (Netherlands)							14	11	14	15	16
Norway								12	15	14	15
Italy							16	10	13	15	12
Canada	2	3	6	6	6	5	7	3	6	10	10
Australia	5	7	8	5	9	9	10	7	9	8	10
Great Britain	7	7	7	7	9	8	8	1	6	6	6

NOTE: Blank where not asked.

Methodology

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States between August 10 and 15, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 1,012 adults (ages 18+). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

J21930

Q555

[BenLurkin]

Canada?

[bereanway]

Even thought they're our neighbors neither Canada nor Mexico has seemed much of a friend recently. I think some of the East European countries such as Poland should have been included.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

Poland not mentioned? Canada number 2? Hmmm......

[dougherty]

Whoever answered 'Canada' needs to crawl out from under their rock now.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I think I would rank Poland over Canada.

Right up there with Australia and Britain...

[digitalbrownshirt]

This is a clear example of why opinion polls suck. You're getting the opinions of people that get their opinions hand fed to them by Tom, Peter and Dan. There's no logical reason for Canada to be in the top 20, let alone number 2 on such a list.

[Koblenz]

Poland should indeed be way up there. Other Eastern European countries as well. Italy, Holland and Denmark are also allies of ours in Iraq. Australia as well.

[highlander_UW]

Canada, no way! I agree, Poland and Italy, in particular should be much further up.

What would be interesting is to see the same poll given from the perspective of those nations...who do they consider their ally?

[CurlyBill]

Even thought they're our neighbors neither Canada nor Mexico has seemed much of a friend recently. I think some of the East European countries such as Poland should have been included.

I agree with you 100%. The "Vilnius 10" of the former Eastern Bloc are far more friendly with us than some in "Old Europe." Poland and others stand shoulder to shouder with us. Also notable.... ranking Canada ahead of Australia shows the ignorance of those polled.

[rolling_stone]

Mexico is not an ally, they are an invading force.

[sgtbono2002]

Canada is only our ally when they need us. Canada has a great past. Their future seems to be rooted in hating the USA. #2 no way.

[Oztrich Boy]

Canada?

A lot of people confuse "nearest" with "closest"

[traumer]

Canada... ??
What about POLAND, HUNGARY, CZECH REP. !

[traumer]

The Harris Poll® ......... HA!

[RAY]

Canada! Not!

[Lessismore]

Interesting data. From 2001 to 2004, the perceptions of most other countries are that they are less of a close ally, and more of an unfriendly or enemy country.

[traumer]

Unpopularity of France 1994-2004 (in %)
15
14
18
15
18
18
14
11
25
43
42

[rang1995]

What is france doing on the list???