Nov. 28 (UPI) — Newly released results of a research project show relations between Americans and Germans are good, despite the trans-Atlantic alliance being tested by high tension world events. But cracks emerge over China.
Wars between Ukraine and Russia and Israel and Hamas have tested the relationship between the U.S. and Germany, and researchers say, each country’s relationship with an increasingly aggressive China is key to the stability of each country’s foreign policy and bilateral relations between the two world powers, the research shows.
Findings from the seventh joint survey between Pew Research Center and Körber-Stiftung show the two countries see their relationship in a positive light.
Key findings of the research show that 85% of Americans and 77% of Germans see the relationship as positive. Germany’s view of the relationship was much more negative under former President Donald Trump.
“In 2020, German views of the relationship were much more negative,” the report said.
Most Americans in the survey see Germany as a partner on key issues, including how to deal with China and America’s position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing hostilities, which have worn on for almost two years now.
Germans, however, report being less inclined to partner with the United States on climate protection, although a majority of Germans see America as a free trade partner and a promoter of democracy.
While there is a positive sentiment among Germans on both sides of the American political aisle, Democrats report seeing Germans in a more favorable light on key issues than Republicans do.
“But in general, positive sentiment toward Germany is bipartisan,” the report said.
The report says Americans see the United Kingdom as their most critical partner when it comes to foreign policy; Germans say the U.S. is their most important ally.
More than half of Germans, 57%, report feeling their power in the international arena has waned in recent years, but the U.S. does not feel that way about their German allies.
Both countries agree that Russia is a military threat, but a greater number of Americans 68% report feeling strongly about it, while just 36% of Germans say that is the case, although that is 14% higher than it was last year among Germans.
Both America and Germany report their relationship with each other is far more important than their respective relationships with Russia.
70% of Americans report seeing China as a military and security threat while only 13% of Germans report feeling that way. Both, however, agree that China’s growing influence as a global military power are bad for their respective countries.
The joint survey was conducted in September, 2023 among 1,014 American and 1,057 German adults.
