Bilateral Relations

There is widespread support in Taiwan for increased economic and political ties with the U.S. While many are wary of stronger political ties with mainland China, about half would favor stronger economic relations.

Republicans are more negative than Democrats toward China, though unfavorable ratings have climbed among both parties.

Political divides on both sides of the Atlantic continue to shape attitudes about relations with other nations, perceptions about defense spending and Americans’ and Germans’ views of each other.

NATO is generally seen in a positive light across countries in the alliance, but many express reservations about fulfilling Article 5’s collective defense obligations.

More countries still name the U.S. as the foremost economic power than say the same of China. And, even in nations that welcome China’s economic growth, few feel similarly about its growing military might.

Americans and Germans continue to have notably different perspectives on the relationship between their countries.

Unfavorable opinion of China in the U.S. is at its highest level in 14 years of polling. Americans also increasingly see China as a threat, and more than half see friction in the current bilateral economic relationship.

Americans and Germans have vastly different opinions of their relationship, but they tend to agree on issues such as cooperation with other European allies and support for NATO.

At a time of rising tensions between their countries, people in the United States and Germany express increasingly divergent views about the status of their decades-long partnership.

Most Americans expressed an unfavorable opinion of Putin earlier this year, but Russians have a relatively positive view of Trump. Globally, there is low confidence in Putin and Trump on international affairs.