Also...

Israel has problems. Big problems. I LIKE Israel and I freely admit it has problems.

But voting it lower than China and Putin-controlled Russia? Really?

Netanyahu is not exactly a great PM, and the old ultra-Orthodox guard in Israel NEEDS to get voted out before they make the nation totally unsympathetic (some would argue more so than they have done already) in its treatment of Palestinians as well as allowing its ultra-Orthodoxy to impede its progress...

But STILL--

Who here would honestly pick Putin's Russia or China over Tel Aviv?

Ah well...

"It was conducted for the BBC by GlobeScan and PIPA, who conducted face-to-face and telephone interviews with randomly selected people in 25 countries."

"Random people," I guess? *shrug*

If the vote was held among Austrians this is deeply concerning.

Why do you hate Germany so much, obiwanobiwan?

...I don't??? O.o

I like Germany. I like German literature.

...I can't say I'm a fan of German opera (Mozart's "The Magic Flute" being the exception, though he wasn't German himself) as Strauss bores me and Wagner...well, he's Wagner, I don't think I have to explain further there (that and Italian opera is where it's at) but that's hardly something to hold against Germany.

Why would I hate Germany, considering 1945 was, well, nearly 70 years ago?

Actually, come to think of it--

Where IS Italy in that poll? They don't count? Austria doesn't count?

They just got lumped into the EU ranking? That doesn't seem fair...

And it's again a meaningless poll, but insofar as this discussion is concerned--that's not fair, count them all separately or all together as the EU...

I GUARANTEE if we could count US states and then the US overall California, New York state and the New England region would rate relatively well internationally compared to the US on the whole (and I know that's not an exact parallel as EU member states aren't joined the same way US states are, but the rough point comes across anyway, I think.)

I do wonder why Brazil is so high...it's arguably the most powerful and developed Latin American country (and has the Olympics in 2016) but still, it's not as if all the other Latin American countries would have voted for it, it has its fans and detractors in the region...

Eh.

Methinks you should look a bit more closely at the polls you're posting about, Obi. 21 nations were asked about 16 countries of interest and the EU.

It is actually a very useful poll. It shows a plummet in the popularity of the EU in recent years, and from the likes of China and Japan. The US rose to new heights under Obama but is now starting to fall back. Israel is considered considerably better than Iran as things stand. Six years ago there was nothing between them. Israel are winning that particular propaganda war :).

@ obiwanobiwan: If you don't dislike Germany, why did you start a thread expressing incredulity at the idea that Germany is popular with anyone?