Global Opinion of Russia Slants Negative, a Pew Study Finds
Russia has an image problem -- and not only in the U.S.
International opinion of Russia leans negative, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.
Among 37 countries surveyed, a median of only 34 percent of people reported favorable views of Russia. And only a global median of 26 percent of respondents reported confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin to do the right thing in world affairs.
"The main takeaway is that globally, very few publics have confidence in Putin's ability to do the right thing on the world stage, and at the same time, view Russia rather negatively," says Margaret Vice, senior researcher at Pew.
The survey, conducted among 40,951 respondents from Feb. 16 to May 8, found negative opinions of Russia were most widespread in the U.S. and Europe, where 63 and 61 percent of people reported negative views, respectively. Perspectives on Russia were more varied in the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Public opinion of Russia was the most negative in Jordan (93 percent), the Netherlands (82 percent) and Sweden (78 percent). In only three countries -- Vietnam, Greece and the Philippines -- did a majority of people report positive opinions.
When it come to Russia's treatment of civil liberties, few believe it has a positive track record, with a global median of only 30 percent globally saying Russia respects the rights of its citizens.
Despite low global approval ratings, a minority of respondents consider Russia to be a threat. A median of 31 percent of those across the 37 countries describe Russia's power and influence as a major threat to their country, which is similar to the median percentage who say the same about China and the U.S.
A person's place on the political spectrum also seems to correlate with views of Putin, according to the study. In 11 out of 21 countries in which respondents were asked about ideology, those who leaned right were more likely to report favorable views of Putin. The trend was particularly marked in Italy, Greece and Australia.
The same is true of the U.S., where "what we're seeing is a an emergence of partisan difference in views of both Putin and Russia, with Republicans more so than in 2015 feeling more favorable," Vice says. "Those ideological cleavages did not exist in 2015."
Today, only 16 percent of U.S. Democrats have a favorable view of Russia, compared with 41 percent of Republicans, according to the report. Back in 2015, 71 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Republicans held unfavorable opinions.
One country that bucked the left-right trend was Venezuela, where those on the left of the political spectrum were 28 percentage points more likely to support Putin than those on the right.
The Pew report also found both a gender and age divide in terms of opinions on Russia. In many countries, older people were more likely to have negative opinions of Russia than younger people, with a particular age gap in Japan, Brazil, Australia and South Korea.
Russia also tends to be more popular among men than women. "In seven nations, the share of men who feel warmly about Russia is anywhere from 7 to 17 points higher than the share of women who feel the same way," according to the report. France and Germany had the most significant gender gaps.
Pew's report on global opinion of Russia is the latest of a series of similar reports that covered the United States and China. While Putin earned higher ratings than U.S. President Donald Trump, he lagged just behind Chinese President Xi Jinping. In terms of overall global opinion, however, Vice says China and the U.S. remain dominant.
"It's sort of a race for the most favorability between the U.S. and Russia," she says. "Russia is well behind."
Devon Haynie is news editor, international for U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dhaynie@usnews.com.
