USA, Germany Ratings Weaker As Russia Suffers Global Rebuke

U.S. leadership ratings retreated after the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, with most of the world disapproving of Russia’s leadership after its invasion of Ukraine 

Washington, D.C. — A new Gallup report based on interviews in 137 countries in 2022 shows the honeymoon is over for U.S. President Joe Biden, and Germany’s image has lost some of its clout under new Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Though global approval ratings of the U.S. and Germany dipped in 2022, both countries are still in much stronger positions than Russia — which saw its ratings plunge after its invasion of Ukraine — and China.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) with Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R)

Here are some of the key findings from Gallup’s Rating World Leaders 2023 report:

• U.S. leadership ratings around the world rebounded in 2021 in the first year of Biden’s presidency but declined in his second.
• Ratings for the U.S. first slipped after withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
• There were double-digit decreases in U.S. leadership approval in 36 countries between 2021 and 2022 — mostly in Europe and the Americas.
• Russia’s approval ratings plunged worldwide after the invasion of Ukraine, and the majority of adults around the world now disapprove of Russia’s leadership.
• Majorities in 81 of the 137 countries surveyed disapproved of Russian leadership.

A look back to last year’s rankings and previous years.

Implications Beyond 2023:

One of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the U.S. and its allies in 2023 and beyond will be to ensure the transatlantic unity that was so greatly tested in 2022 does not fracture as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.

The images of the U.S. and Germany are in slightly weaker positions than before the war started, but they are still in much stronger positions than Russia. But perhaps more importantly, the soaring disapproval of Russia’s leadership in all parts of the world shows they are not the only countries that care.