Meridian International Center and Gallup Release Data on Global Perceptions of U.S. Leadership

On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, Meridian International Center and Gallup co-hosted an event, Who Leads the World? Shifts of Interest in Global Perceptions of U.S. Leadership, at which the findings from the fourth annual U.S. Global Leadership Track were released. The Track polled individuals from 130 countries and areas (representative of 98% of the world’s adult population) in 2012 on whether they approve or disapprove of U.S. leadership.

Governor James J. Blanchard, Meridian’s Chairman and Partner and Co-Chair of the Government Affairs Practice Group of DLA Piper opened the event with introductory and welcome remarks. Gallup’s Jon Clifton then presented the survey data and provided context for this information. Ambassador Stuart Holliday, Meridian’s President and CEO then turned to a panel of Ambassadors for a broader discussion of the survey numbers and why particular regions may have either increased or decreased in their approval ratings of U.S. leadership. For the panel, Ambassador Holliday was joined by The Right Honorable Mike Moore, Ambassador of New Zealand to the U.S. and His Excellency Mohamed M. Tawfik, Ambassador of Egypt to the U.S., along with Mr. Clifton. Questions from the floor included comments by the Ambassadors of Liechtenstein, Lesotho and Barbados, as well as the DCM of the Embassy of Kenya.

General Findings: The data reveals that global median approval of U.S. leadership stood at 41%, down from 46% in 2011. With a median approval rate of 70%, Africa has maintained its position as the region with the most positive perceptions of U.S. leadership. Europe, meanwhile, replaced Asia as the region with the lowest median approval rating at 36%. The Americas held a steady approval rating of 40%, while Asia’s approval ratings edged downward from 39% to 37%. The diversity of opinions in that region is demonstrated by the Philippines taking the top spot as the country with the highest median approval rating of U.S. leadership (64%), while Pakistan registered the highest disapproval rating for Asia – 79%.