A View from Abroad (Part II)

The Pew Global Attitudes Project (Full PDF report is here) is rich in information from 16 different nations.  Mining this data has some interesting gems that appear missing in most of the MSM accounts of the survey's reporting.

For Part II of this series, I will focus on US-Franco relations and some surprising results.  No doubt the war in Iraq, along with French, English and American diplomacy, soured the French public on the "We are all Americans now" mentality in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.  However, the 2005 Pew report seems to indicate that the bottom of relations has been reached and a period of reconciliation has begun.

Prior to 9/11, the French public had a favorable opinion of the US in the low 60% range.  It freefell to 43% in 2003, with a further dip to 37% in 2004, and has now returned to 43% in 2005.  For a European reference, the British had a 55% favorable rating of the US, Netherlands 45%, Germany and Spain 41%, and Poland a healthy 62%.  While the socialist nations of Europe all rate the US at below 50%, the trend is improving.  Iraq and the lack of a Soviet threat to Europe must account for a good deal of the negative feelings to the lone superpower, but also the implicit threat of American-style capitalism is part of the equation as well.  The English and Polish economies have less to fear from US-style capitalism.  In fact, their economies are much closer in design to America's than France and Germany. 

The high unemployment rates only increase the insecurity of French, Dutch and Germans toward the US economic engine of "raw" capitalism.

Americans have an 83% favorable view of themselves, compared to France's 74% positive rating for their own nation.  However, the French love the Germans (more than the Germans love them) with an 89% rating.  Shockingly, the French view China with a 58% positive rating, 15% higher than their view of the US.  No wonder why France is more than happy to sell arms, regardless of their danger to US forces, to China.

US responses to the Tsunami disaster, which had a disproportionate effect on Europeans on vacation over the Christmas holiday, are interesting in Europe.  66% percent of Germans, 51% of the French and 62% of the Dutch had a more positive view of the US based on our humanitarian response. 

So where are the positives for US-Franco relations that were promised in the prior post?  The data is found in the responses to "How Western Publics View Americans" on 3 positive traits and 4 negative traits.

Positive

• Hardworking  - 89% of the French, higher than any other country surveyed and even our own view in the US of 86%.  The French do not view the US as a culture of slackers, and this points to a contrast with their own economic/social model.
• Inventive - 78% of the French (compared to 81% of Americans) view the US favorably in this category.  Invention is an important component of economic growth. 
• Honest - 67%, tied with Great Britain for second place in the view of Americans as being trustworthy.  This bodes well also for long-term foreign policy as the French are likely to see Americans as doing what they pledge to do.

Negative Traits

• Greedy - Only 31% of the French see the US as greedy, compared to 70% of Americans.  This contrast of extreme low and extreme high in the survey is interesting.  However, given the French view of Americans as "hardworking" and "honest", this result should not be all that surprising.  It does also assist the US in conveying an altruistic foreign policy abroad.
• Violent - The French view America as violent by a percentage of 63%, the second highest in the survey.  Given the influence of American films and television, this statistic is not that surprising. 
• Rude - Only 36% of the French view Americans as rude.  If only the converse were true.
• Immoral - For all the differences over the war, only 37% of French view the US as immoral, below even our own opinion of 39% here at home.

Three of the Positive Traits and 3 out of the 4 negative traits all speak favorably about French views about American characteristics.  This may give the US an opportunity to build upon the low opinions the socialist Western Europeans have of the US.

Religion is an area where the US and France divide the most.  61% of the French view the US as "too religious", compared to Jordanians, who view, by a figure of 95%, that the US is "not religious enough".  I see few opportunities to bridge this gap unless Americans give up their faith or the French experience a massive revival or allow the Muslim population to grow beyond the estimated 10% currently.

French perceptions appear most off when the statistic of "How Others Feel About Your Country" is analyzed.  80% of the French believe they are liked abroad compared to only 26% of Americans.  Both nations are probably somewhere in the middle. 

The road ahead between Washington and Paris will continue to have diplomatic strains over Iraq, the War on Terror, and China.  However, there are areas of mutual respect between the US and France where progress can be made on nuclear issues, trade (Airbus-Boeing aside), genocide, AIDS in Africa and encouraging democracy abroad. 

Comments

[Lexingon Green]

"No wonder why France is more than happy to sell arms, regardless of their danger to US forces, to China." The French probably see this threat as an affirmatively good thing, since thwarting America's "irresponsible" use of military power is something perceived as desirable there.

[Charles]

With India holding one of the the overall most favorable opinions of the U.S., as I suspect due to the vast employment U.S. companies provide throughout most urban areas there (and here as 3 India natives work right next me), we see at lease one upside to exporting jobs, one that holds the potential to also increase our favorable rating amongst the Middle East once stable democracies are established and given a chance to enter the global economy. I am not fond of outsourcing jobs, but at lease there is an upside.