The survey, carried out for the BBC, polled 26,000 people in 25 countries and asked them to rate 16 countries and the European Union as a whole on whether their influence on the world was mainly positive or negative.
Germany came out on top, with 59 percent of survey participants giving it a positive rating. The country moved up three percentage points from its 2012 position. It displaced Japan, which saw its positive rating fall from 58 percent last year to 51 percent, going from first to fourth place.
…
Alastair Newton, political analyst at Japanese investment bank Nomura, said Germany’s popularity in the survey is not surprising given the alternative choices.
“There are lots of reasons why Germany is admired,” Newton said. “It is a large and important world economy, a world-class manufacturer and has a chancellor who demonstrates genuine leadership. The question also is, where else would it be? It is hardly likely to be the U.S., given their attitude to the Middle East, or China given Western and Japanese concerns on the country,” he added.
…
But Jennifer McKeown, European economist at research house Capital Economics, said the results of this survey would probably be different if it were euro zone-focused rather than global.
“The big difference here is that this is a worldwide survey,” she said. “I’m not sure how relevant this is as it is the perception of Germany within the euro zone that is more important.”
Full article: Germany is the ‘Most Popular Country in the World’ (CNBC)
Global Geopolitics 