London - Germany tops a poll of countries gauged for the positive influence they have on world affairs, results said Wednesday - while the United States improved, and Israel and Iran stay bottom. The poll, conducted for the BBC World Service, showed an average 56 per cent of over 17,000 asked in 34 countries had a positive view of Germany - the highest percentage.
Germany was taking for the first time in the poll, which reviews 23 countries and has been commissioned each year since 2005. Close behind came Japan, the European Union and France and Britain.
The poll also found attitudes to the United States improving, with the average percentage of people who say the US has a positive influence rising to 35 per cent from 31 per cent a year ago.
However, while those saying the US has a negative influence fell five percentage points to 47 per cent, the poll still found that views of US influence in the world are mainly negative.
Iran and Israel were viewed most negatively. Negative views of Iran's influence remained at 54 per cent. But Israel's negative rating went down from 57 per cent to 52 per cent. Pakistan was the third most poorly rated country.
Russia showed the greatest improvement, with positive views rising on average among the countries surveyed from 29 per cent to 37 per cent.
The survey was carried out by the international polling firm GlobeScan with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.
