International approval of U.S. leadership has dropped in President Joe Biden's second year in office, but the United States is still polling far ahead when it comes to world leaders, a new Gallup poll of 137 countries and territories reveals.
The survey was conducted in mid-to-late 2022, coming after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan. It shows that the median approval of U.S. leadership dropped from 41% to 39% in Europe during Biden's second year, and from 52% to 36% in the Americas.
U.S. leadership marked high numbers in Kosovo (90%), Poland (80%), Nigeria (78%), Israel (65%), and the Philippines (62%), but was unpopular in Russia (4%), Iran (8%), and the Palestinian territories (13%).
However, Russian leadership fell almost everywhere, except for remaining high in some African countries, including the West African nation of Mali, where the Russian mercenary Wagner group has a presence. There, the approval of the Russian government was at a high mark of 90%.
Germany, meanwhile, was deemed the least polarizing, with approval dropping from 2021 but still tending to have a disapproval rate that was less than the rate for the United States.
In other numbers:
- China polled ahead of the United States in just a few countries, including Russia. The country scored a median approval rate of just 16% in Europe and 23% in the Americas.
- Approval of both U.S. leadership, at 59%, and Chinese, at 52% came from sub-Saharan Africa.
- Asia had a mixed response. China's numbers polled far ahead in Pakistan and Iran, but approval of the U.S. government came in higher from India.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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