Chart: Global Leadership: Forces of Good or Evil?

The BRICS The summit kicks off today in the Russian city of Kazan and is the first of its kind since Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates joined founding countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in expanding the group. Although Saudi Arabia has been invited to join, it has not yet formally done so. The bloc’s growing influence is increasingly recognized as a counterweight to the crisis G7 and the IMF on the international stage.

The following chart looks at data from a recent Ipsos questionnaire about how different countries are viewed around the world, including some BRICS. It is important to note that while this survey was extensive and included 23,800 adults in 31 countries, in terms of global representation, this data only paints part of the picture as some regions are underrepresented. For example, South Africa was the only country in Africa surveyed.

Ipsos found that views on Russia and China have deteriorated since 2019. While an average of 26 percent of respondents surveyed in the first wave thought that Russia used their influence mainly for evil, invasion of UkraineThat figure has since deteriorated to 48 percent who share the same view in 2024. Only one in ten respondents say Russia has used its influence mainly for good. This makes the country the most negatively rated country in the survey, followed by Iran. Opinions on China are more mixed, although still largely negative, with only 13 percent of respondents saying the country uses its influence for good. Perceptions of China fell by 10 percentage points between the two survey waves.

India has a more positive view of foreign affairs than the aforementioned BRICS partners, with only 12 percent of respondents saying the country uses its influence mainly for bad. However, three in ten respondents indicate that the country does not use its influence at all. Prospective group member Saudi Arabia saw its image improve slightly.

The United States, a major player in the G7, had the highest percentage of respondents at 36 percent who said they used their influence abroad for both good and bad. Of American respondents, 32 percent agreed with this statement. In South Korea this rose to 50 percent. Of the 31 countries surveyed, Indonesia and Turkey were the populations with the worst views of the US, with 36 percent and 33 percent respectively saying the US used its influence mainly for bad. The US and Israel had the highest percentage of people who said the country used its influence for good (34 percent, 31 percent).