When asked to name their country’s most important ally, people around the world often point to the U.S. Respondents in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America also frequently name China, while those in Europe commonly cite the EU or specific European powers.
People in the U.S. and Canada look across their shared border on this question, naming the other country as their most important ally. The UK is also a popular response in these nations – in fact the most popular among Americans. Among U.S. adults, 18% say the UK is their top ally, and 12% name Canada. In Canada, a 55% majority say the U.S. is their top ally, while 17% name the UK.
Most adults in the European countries surveyed see their own neighbors as important allies, though the U.S. is also a common answer throughout the region. In some places, a particular European power rises to the top. In the Netherlands, for example, a 54% majority of adults name Germany as their country’s top ally. Elsewhere in Europe, multiple responses crop up at similar rates. In Hungary, about equal shares of adults see the EU (24%) and the U.S. (23%) as their country’s most important ally.
The U.S. is also seen as a key ally across the Asia-Pacific region. People in Australia, India, Japan and South Korea are more likely to name the U.S. than they are to name any other country. This includes 89% of adults in South Korea and 78% in Japan. In Indonesia, China takes the top spot at 27%, while the U.S. is the second-most common response at 19%.
In Israel, 95% of adults name the U.S. as their most important ally, more than any country surveyed. But in nearby Turkey, the largest share of adults (42%) see Azerbaijan as their top ally. Turkey is the only country included in the survey (other than the U.S. itself) where fewer than 10% name the U.S. on this question.
In the sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, China joins the U.S. on the list of most common responses. Similar shares of adults in Nigeria, as well as in Kenya, say the U.S. and China are their country’s most important ally. China takes the top spot for South Africans (45%), while the second-largest share (28%) name the U.S. as their top ally.
The U.S. and China are also seen as major allies in Latin America, too, though the U.S. is more commonly named across all three survey countries in this region: Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
Views by ideology
Views of the U.S. as an ally vary by ideology. Those who place themselves on the right are generally more likely than those on the left to name the U.S. as their country’s most important ally.
This pattern is especially clear in Europe: Views differ by about 25 points in Hungary, Poland and the UK. (For their part, adults on the left in these countries are more likely than those on the right to say the EU is their most important ally.)
Still, the largest ideological gap (+34 points) is found in Australia, where 59% of those on the right name the U.S. as their most important ally, compared with 25% of those on the left.
There are ideological differences even in Japan (+12) and Israel (+11), where vast majorities of the population name the U.S. as their top ally.
In Europe, people with a favorable view of right-wing populist parties are also more likely to see the U.S. as an ally. The largest differences are in Hungary and Poland: Supporters of Fidesz in Hungary are four times as likely as nonsupporters to see the U.S. as an ally (42% vs. 10%), while supporters of Law and Justice in Poland are twice as likely as nonsupporters (66% vs. 33%) to take this stance.
There are also significant differences between supporters and nonsupporters of Reform UK (+24 points), AfD in Germany (+21), Lega in Italy (+14), Vox in Spain (+14), Party for Freedom in the Netherlands (+11) and National Rally in France (+6).
