Transatlantic Trends (4)

In this last installment of Transatlantic Trends visualization, we’ll look into what Americans and Europeans think about Russia’s role in world affair.  More Americans think it’s desirable that Russia exerts strong leadership in global affairs, but even more Greeks think so.  On the other hand, more Spaniards and Polish don’t think that Russia should exert strong power (understandably for Poland because of its proximity and history of conflict with Russia, but Spain...?)

Who has the most favorable opinion of Russia?  The patriotic Russians, of course, as well as the Greeks (why do the Greeks like Russia so much?).  Who disapproves the way their country is managing relations with Russia?  The Spaniards and Polish, who seem not to favor Russia very much.

Transatlantic Trends (3)

In this visualization, the European Union (EU) is evaluated by its own people where Europeans voiced their opinions on whether their EU membership has been a good or bad decision.

And the results are the Europeans like (1) EU allows freedom of travel, work, & study within its borders and (2) EU is a community of democracies. However, they dislike the fact that EU membership has harmed their country’s economy (especially the Italians, Portuguese, and Spaniards).

Turkey, not yet an EU member, has majority of its people consistently saying over the years that they don’t have a favorable opinion of the EU and that they don’t want to see EU exert strong leadership in world affairs. The United Kingdom, where exit from the EU is a political aim and desire of some people, don’t have a favorable opinion of the EU either.

Transatlantic Trends (2)

This post will expand on the previous post of the global-thematic Transatlantic Trends report, that the economy and unemployment were two most important issues on people’s mind.  The visualization analyzes how people were affected by the global economic crisis from 2009-2014.

The Greeks, Portuguese, Spaniards, Turkish, and Americans revealed that they were most affected by the economic crisis, whereas for the least affected Swedes & Germans, what crisis?

The Italians and Spaniards thought that the European Union (EU) was not responsive to combating the economic crisis and that the countries affected by the economic crisis were not doing enough to combat the crisis.  In other words, help us!

In every surveyed EU country, majority of people thought that each country should retain their authority over their country’s economic and budgetary policies, with the Greeks, British, & Swedes displayed the strongest feeling about this issue.  In short, dear EU, thanks for your financial help, but no thanks to your authority!

Transatlantic Trends

Happy New Year!  Let’s start 2016 by reviewing the Transatlantic Trends report prepared by the German Marshall Fund of the United States based in Washington D.C.  This global-thematic report is a comprehensive annual survey of American and European public opinion on numerous transatlantic issues, including foreign policies, support for NATO, economic performance, immigration etc.

This preeminent report provides valuable data for policymakers (including the U.S. Department of State), the media, & the academics to look into important issues that affect countries on both sides of the Atlantic.  Here’s the first visualization that analyzes what people from the European Union, US, and Russia think about the important issues that are affecting their lives.  Not surprisingly, the economy and unemployment were two most important issues on people's mind as these issues directly affected their financial well-being.  On the issue whether the UK should leave the European Union, let's just say that there would be no love lost for the French if the UK decides to leave.