PUTTING CANADA IN ITS PLACE
Jeffrey Simpson
Globe and Mail
LAC.20090210.COSIMP10/TPStory/National
Feb 10 2009
Canada
Israelis likely do not care and Iranians probably do not know, but
theirs are two of the least popular countries in the world. Throw
Pakistan into the mix, and the annual BBC World Service poll gives
us three of the world’s least popular countries.
Israelis, having just fought another war, this one in Gaza, are
voting for a new government today. By all accounts, the war was very
popular among Israelis, but much less so elsewhere. The BBC poll was
taken before the Gaza war. Chances are, Israel’s popularity is even
lower now.
Israelis are accustomed to believing that most of the world is against
them, so the poll’s result will hardly surprise them. To be precise,
the poll asked respondents in 21 countries whether other countries
were playing a "positive" or "negative" role in the world. Only 21
per cent of respondents said Israel played a positive role; 71 per
cent said it played a negative one. In only one country – the United
States – did Israel receive a slightly positive rating.
The Harper government has lined up solidly behind Israel in public
statements and United Nations votes. Canadians, however, would seem
to be on another page. Only 28 per cent said Israel plays a positive
role in the world, compared with 52 per cent who said it doesn’t.
It would appear from this survey (others show the same results)
that the Harper government is offside Canadian public opinion in its
"ready aye ready" attitude toward Israel. That might explain why the
government, while totally supporting Israel, said little during the
Gaza war, certainly less than during Israel’s war against Hezbollah
in Lebanon.
Canadians, like most people in the surveyed countries, believe Iran
and Pakistan are negative forces in the world. How to deal with Iran
is among the new Obama administration’s major challenges; how to
prevent Pakistan from sliding further into the category of a failed
state is a major problem for the world.
Canada, a moral superpower in its own mind, turns out to be the
country with the second most positive rating in the BBC poll. We seem
to be popular more or less everywhere, except in Turkey, where our
popularity has plummeted.
This result is partly due to the Harper government’s foolish
recognition of the Armenian "genocide" during the First World War –
a matter best left to historians and of no direct relevance to Canada
but of great sensitivity in Turkey, Armenia and the vocal Armenian
diaspora. Canada’s slide might also be due to Turks being grumpy
about everybody.
Turks viewed only one "positive" country: Germany. In fact, the BBC
poll puts Germany atop the positive list, a testament to decades of
constructive international work and the nation’s absorption of the
terrible lessons of its history. Japan, which has been far less public
in its self-analysis of the Second World War, is fourth in the survey.
Imagine: Almost six decades after that war, and despite all the war
films and books that keep pouring out in countries once referred
to as the Allies, two Axis powers – Germany and Japan – are among
the countries now perceived as playing the most positive roles in
the world.
Canadians are keen on Japan’s role, followed closely by that of the
U.K., France and Germany. We’re favourable about India’s role but
negative on China’s. In this, it might be that the Harper government
has read Canadian public opinion, since its attitude toward China
has been distant.
Canadians are decidedly negative about Russia, which is not surprising
given the weakening of democracy there, the return of a modern version
of Russian chauvinism and the country’s assertiveness in the Arctic.
As for Americans, Canadian skepticism is alive. Fifty-five per cent
think the U.S. plays a negative role, compared with 38 per cent who
think it plays a positive one. The result, however, is much better
than what the BBC poll found when George Bush was president. Call it
the early Obama effect.