The countries that we love and hate
By Anthony King The Daily Telegraph 3 January 2005
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/03/ncoun03.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/03/ixhome.html

[Countries where would least like to live:
Israel 37% India 29% Russia 28% China 24% Egypt 24%

Countries with the least friendly people:
France 30% Germany 23% Israel 15% Russia 13% US 10% Egypt 10%

Least safe countries:
US 37% Israel 33% Egypt 21% South Africa 21% Russia 19%

Countries least likely to take a holiday
Israel 41% Dubai 23% India 22% Russia 19% Egypt 15%

Least democratic countries
China 43% Russia 27% Dubai 24% Israel 15% Egypt 13%

Least beautiful countries
Israel 23% Dubai 22% Russia 19% India 14% Egypt 14%]

The great American wit H L Mencken contemplated every state of the Union
before the Second World War and decided that, judged by any criterion one
cared to name, Mississippi was incomparably the worst. It was by far the
poorest, ugliest, least well educated and most comprehensively racist.

A YouGov survey for The Telegraph cast its net more widely and invited
respondents to rate almost two dozen countries, including Britain, on the
basis of 12 separate criteria.

Respondents were urged to name the three countries they thought best in the
world according to each of the dozen criteria and also the three they
thought worst.

YouGov's findings - set out in the chart - offer a fascinating insight into
how modern Britons see the wider world.

It turns out the British have a high regard for their own country but only
within limits.

Nearly half of Britons regard their country as being one of the most
democratic countries in the world and one of the most deserving of
international respect - a reputation likely to be enhanced by Britain's
response to the tsunami disaster.
Nearly half also say that Britain is one of the three countries where they
would most like to live.

However, most of these figures can easily be looked at the other way. If
roughly half of Britons think Britain is a splendid country in which to
live, that means the other half would prefer to live somewhere else.

Opinion is also divided on whether Britain is likely, during the present
century, to prove dynamic. Roughly one in five thinks it will, but one in
eight is far more pessimistic and thinks Britain will be among the least
dynamic nations in the world.
Decades after the loss of the Empire, YouGov's findings also show that
Britons still see the old white Commonwealth countries - and, to a lesser
extent, the United States - as part of their "patch".

A glance down the column headed "The top five" shows the dominance of
countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada and also the relevant
insignificance of countries on the European continent. Canada, Australia and
New Zealand are rated unusually safe and Australians unusually friendly. The
USA has a more mixed reputation: dynamic and democratic, yes, but also
dangerously unsafe.

One in three of YouGov's respondents regards America as one of the world's
three "least safe" countries - more than think the same of Israel, Egypt or
South Africa.

Moreover, while 19 per cent reckon the US is one of the countries "most
deserving of international respect", a considerably larger proportion, 25
per cent, reckon that under this heading it is one of the world's "least
deserving" countries. A few countries stand out because of what Britons
believe to be their individual attributes.

For example 70 per cent reckon Japan is one of the nations producing the
world's most reliable consumer goods, though Japan is scarcely rated in
other ways.

Similarly, although most continental European countries scarcely feature in
the ratings (and Spain, in particular, does not feature among the top or
bottom five in any of them), Italy and France stand out as countries thought
to have some of the world's most beautiful buildings and works of art.

Against that, the French and the Germans are thought to be among the world's
least friendly people.

While Britain and several old Commonwealth countries have high ratings
across the board, the survey reveals some places as being almost pariah
states. Large numbers of Britons admire Indian food - but only provided they
can eat it here.

Otherwise India rates highly among countries where Britons would least like
to live and would least like to go on holiday. Only one in eight thinks
India in the 21st century will show significant dynamism.

Russia and China also perform badly in the survey. A glance down the column
of the chart headed "The bottom five" shows Russia featuring in a formidable
11 of the 12 categories.

Britons think Russia is undemocratic, unsafe, unfriendly and unattractive in
almost every respect. It is credited only with having beautiful art and
architecture.

The fact that India, Russia and China are, in their different ways, given
poor ratings probably comes as no surprise. More surprising is how little
regard Britons are found to have for Israel.

The violence and Israel's continuing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza
appear to have done immense damage to its standing. Israel comes top of the
list of countries where people would least like to live and would least like
to take a holiday.
It is also the country thought least deserving of international respect.
Despite being the only fully democratic state in the Middle East, it is also
thought to be among the world's "least democratic countries".

Of the 12 criteria set out in YouGov's check-list, Israel comes out bottom
in four cases and among the bottom five in a total of eight. Only Russia has
a worse overall score.

Britons clearly regard Israel and Russia in the same dim light that H L
Mencken regarded Mississippi.

Several countries - notably the United States - turn out to have "crossover"
reputations.

Large numbers rate them highly. Large numbers take the opposite view.

Not only is America seen as a country both much deserving and not at all
deserving of international respect, but Britons as a whole seem unable to
decide whether the Americans should be counted among the world's friendliest
people.

Yes, definitely, say 20 per cent of Britons. But, no certainly not, say 10
per cent, who place Americans in the same category as Israelis, Russians and
Egyptians.

The British are similarly ambivalent about the quality of consumer goods
from China.

As the figures in the chart show, 16 per cent of YouGov's sample reckon
Chinese goods are among the best in the world while 21 per cent reckon they
are among the worst.

YouGov elicited the views of 2,058 adults across Great Britain on line
between December 17 and 20.

The data have been weighted to conform to the demographic profile of British
adults as a whole. YouGov abides by the rules of the British Polling
Council.
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Anthony King is professor of government at Essex University