Trans-Pacific View | Society | East Asia

Poll: How the US Lost the ‘Hearts and Minds’ of People Worldwide

Three years ago, only a fraction of the global public held more favorable opinions of China than of the U.S. Today, China and even Russia have a better global image.

This week NIRA Data presented the results of its annual public opinion survey, commissioned by the Alliance of Democracies, which was conducted in 85 countries worldwide between March 19 and April 21, 2026. The results are not surprising but still offer valuable new evidence and nuance about the significant changes the world is witnessing. Essentially the data shows how steeply the United States is losing its global appeal in recent years.

Just three years ago, the U.S. enjoyed a comfortable lead globally in terms of soft power. Almost no one had a good opinion of China and a bad opinion of the United States. The situation has changed dramatically in a short span of time. Today, most countries around the world now view China more favorably than the United States.

Source: NIRA, Global Country Perceptions 2026. Reproduced with permission.

It is useful to note that most people in the world are not choosing between China and the United States. Back in 2023, public in most countries had positive perceptions of both China and the U.S., followed closely by those countries where the public had a better image of the U.S. than of China.

Today, the most common category of countries is the group of those that have a negative public image of the United States and a positive image of China. This is especially common among the countries in Middle East and North Africa, but also applies to some countries from the Asia-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Europe. 

The second most common category of countries are those that have negative opinions of both the United States and China. This is where much of Europe and a big chunk of the Asia-Pacific now sits. While some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America still have positive views of both the U.S. and China, almost all have a better image of China than of the U.S. 

Today, countries that have positive image of the United States and a negative image of China are few and far between. Only Israel is decidedly in that category, with Ukraine and the Philippines on the edges.

These shifts in global public opinion are staggering, and well visible in the chart below. In the scope of just three years, the world has basically shifted entirely when it comes to public preferences of the United States and China.

Source: NIRA, Global Country Perceptions 2026. Reproduced with permission.

To underline just how bad the U.S. image worldwide has gotten: according to the data, even Russia is now seen more positively than the United States. Interestingly, among the three great powers, only China is perceived on average positively, with both the U.S. and Russia being seen predominantly in negative light

Source: NIRA, Global Country Perceptions 2026. Reproduced with permission.

Although some of these trends started in 2024, much of these dynamics can obviously be........

© The Diplomat