TOKYO — Germany ranked first among 16 countries and the European Union as having a positive influence in the world, according to a recent poll jointly conducted by the BBC World Service and The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The poll asked respondents in 33 countries whether they considered a country’s influence to be mostly positive or mostly negative. Germany was the most favorably viewed. Japan and the European Union tied for second.
The country most negatively viewed was Iran at 56 percent, followed by Pakistan at 51 percent and Israel at 50 percent.
As for North Korea, 48 percent of respondents said the country had a negative influence, far more than the 17 percent who said it had a positive influence.
More people said the United States had a positive influence in the world — 46 percent — than those who viewed the country negatively — 34 percent.
In the last survey, during the presidential transition between George W. Bush and Barack Obama, 40 percent said the U.S. had a positive influence, 41 percent said it had mostly a positive influence, and 38 percent said it had mostly a negative influence.
The poll questioned 29,977 respondents from November to February via telephone or in-person interviews. The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted the poll in Japan.
