Israel, Iran top 'negative list' (Same with USA and N. Korea--EU viewed among most positively).

BBC ^ | Tuesday, March6, 2007 | Nick Childs

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

This survey comes after an earlier poll in January

A majority of people believe that Israel and Iran have a mainly negative influence in the world, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests.

It shows that the two countries are closely followed by the United States and North Korea.

The poll asked 28,000 in 27 countries to rate a dozen countries plus the European Union in terms of whether they have a positive or negative influence.

Canada, Japan and the EU are viewed most positively in the survey.

'Traditional divides'

In January, the BBC World Service revealed polling results that suggested most people think the US has a mainly negative influence in the world - and that the numbers had increased significantly in the last couple of years.

	BBC WORLD SERVICE POLL Most negative image: 1. Israel - 56% 2. Iran - 56% 3. US - 51% 4. North Korea - 48%

This latest survey, mostly of the same people, confirms those findings.

But it also suggests that two countries are viewed even more negatively - first Israel, and then Iran.

North Korea is just behind the US.

Israel, of course, has long provoked sharp international reactions, and last year was involved in a controversial war in Lebanon.

Iran and North Korea have both been at the centre of international disputes over their nuclear programmes.

Canada, Japan, and the EU are viewed most positively, perhaps because they have all taken less high-profile roles in the world's recent confrontations.

India is one country in the survey that seems to have improved its standing in the last year.

In general, opinion seems to divide along the traditional fault lines of international politics.

Israel is viewed most negatively in the Muslim countries of the Middle East, although also in Europe.

Iran is viewed most positively in the Muslim world.

Japan is generally viewed positively, except in China and South Korea.

The EU similarly gets good marks, except most notably in Turkey, and also in parts of the Middle East.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Another sign much of the world is both jealous and insane.

[Ben Mugged]

I'd like to see their demographics.

[SevenofNine]

Well I think in top list is France that Freepers negatively response to A they harbor terrorists in their country B they surrender

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

It would be useful if they listed which nationalities were polled. If they were mostly southwestern Asian (Middle Easterners) and EUers, then the results aren't very surprising.

(Apparently at least two southwestern Asian, two European, and South Korea, and the PRC were polled).

[The KG9 Kid]

George Washington's Farewell Address mention of foreign entanglements should be adopted as America's official foreign policy.

We really need to pull back from the world and insularize ourselves for a few decades.

Let them eat themselves alive. Anyone who causes us pain at home gets nuked.

Now, to get that enormous North American plexiglas bubble under construction to shield us from the outsiders.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Sort of have similar ideas on that topic.

If a hyperdrive was developed, and a habitable and terraformable planet were found and in reach, might support the mass migration of the United States from the current nation to that other world). Those Americans who insisted on staying could run the current American territory in stewardship, but for the most part the United States would cut its ties with the rest of Earth.

Hypothetical, of course.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

EU = EEEEWWWWW!

[puppypusher]

The reason the European Union is so popular is it stands for nothing.It lets the big, bad,United States do it dirty work.

Someday they will regret that and it might be sooner than they think.

[Right Wing Assault]

And, according to the BBC webpage, the 27 countries, in alphabetical order are... not listed? Awww.

[Alter Kaker]

Canada, Japan and the EU are viewed most positively in the survey.

This is nuts. Nowhere in Asia is Japan viewed positively.

[Alter Kaker]

And, according to the BBC webpage, the 27 countries, in alphabetical order are... not listed? Awww.

The countries (having done 2 minutes of research) are:

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Appreciated.

[dk/coro]

Truly laughable.

One might remind the BBC that there will not even be a European Union a decade hence. And, that the current President of the EU was a card-carrying Communist less that two decades ago. And, she loses her job to another rotating turkey on the Continent after six months of mouthing off to the mirror.

And on and on...

And, let us not forget that the EU has a Constitution that is so long (247 pages) that the various member states can't even get their countrymen to read the dam thing before voting AGAINST ratification...and on and on.

And, BTW, The United Kingdom now has an Armed Force only capable of policing a soccer match between Leicester and Birmingham -- and the Royal Navy is fit only to escort Prince Charles down the Themes.

POX on all their houses. "Heavy-Lifting" is gone from their collective national vocabularies. Try "Appeasement". UFB

[Atlantic Bridge]

Another sign much of the world is both jealous and insane.

Yes. But to a European observer like me it is also funny that the US and Israel obviously both want to be loved from the bottom of their hearts. You guys could say "so what?" and ignore this ridicolous poll. Both countries are not dependent on meaningless BBC-polls. But you care and your bad public image in this world obviously gives you "sleepless nights" (yeah yeah - I know I exaggerate to no end...). I.e. the Frenchies do not care that much anymore what i.e. Americans think about them. American anger about France is no issue in the French press. Nobody there is interested into the angry explosion of feelings in the American public after the Iraq-crisis or after the "oil for food scandal" because it is completely irrelevant for the French. Even most of us Germans gave up to care about our public image in 1945. We learned to live with our historical malus and are extremely successfull in ticking off the past. In 10 years from now the Holocaust will be no issue on this world anymore (maybe in Israel or in Poland, but that does not really count in Europe) since nobody will be interested in it. In Austria they have a famous leftist cartoonist -Manfred Deix- who got it on the most sarcastic point: "It is time now to forgive the jews." And if not - so what? Most of us Germans arranged ourselves perfectly that we are eternally associated with marching SS-troops (although this picture has nothing in common with the contemporary reality) as long as our goods are bestsellers on this planet. The list of nations that do not care that much about their public appearance could be elongated to no end. Do you think Putin is concerned about BBC-polls?

Americans and Israelis lack this easygoing feeling. They have rather a obsession to care. Why?

[valispkd]

Here's the detailed report. http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbccntryview/backgrounder.html

[Right Wing Assault]

Thanks for the info.

I know I could have found it in two minutes also, but WHY do these survey things always leave out important info? It's not like it would make the article that much longer. Isn't the job of a news organization to give the details of the news and not make me have to do my own research to find the rest of the story? Or to give a link to a longer story? If that's the case, then they should call themselves "clues" rather than "news". I like that. "At BBC we give you the clues to the news."

"Who, what, when, where, why and how" and I'm not even a "journalist". They forgot at least part of the most important question of all: "who".