International survey: how people in seven countries see the US, power, threats and alliances

Donald Trump’s second term of office has seen a significant break with the foreign policy of previous years. Aside from the current conflict with Iran, the US president has called into question the existence of NATO – including threatening to attack member states – and sparked a trade war with his attempts to impose tariffs on other nations.

With Trump seemingly content for the US to take a less prominent role in global affairs, the world seems destined to move to a more multipolar order. With this in mind, a new YouGov study conducted from 17 June – 1 July 2026 in seven countries – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, the UK and the US – examines four broad themes on the current and future state of the world, and how they want their own relations with the US and other countries to look.

Key findings

1. Climate change ranks as the biggest or joint-biggest global threat in five of the seven countries, peaking at 48% in France.
2. Poles are particularly concerned about military attack from hostile states (43%), while Americans are the most likely to identify political extremism as a major threat (39%).
3. Russia is most commonly seen as the greatest threat to global peace in Poland (59%), Germany (42%), the UK (39%) and France (33%).
4. The USA is considered the greatest threat to global peace by 37% of Canadians and 30% of Australians – more than name any other country.
5. Majorities in all seven countries have a favourable view of NATO, ranging from 55% in the US to 74% in Poland.
6. The most common view in the UK, Germany, France, Australia and Canada is that too little is spent on defence, including 57% of Britons.
7. Despite this, people are generally unwilling to accept higher taxes, greater borrowing or public-service cuts to fund increased defence spending. France is the main exception, with 53% willing to accept cuts to services.
8. Confidence that the US would defend its allies is limited: 41-44% expect American assistance in Poland, France, Canada and the UK, while Germans are more likely to expect that the US would not help them.
9. Public willingness to uphold collective defence remains strong: 65-73% of Americans would defend the allies we asked about, while 67-80% in the other countries would defend a European NATO ally or allied democracy.
10. Military alliances are considered important to national security by between 65% and 91% of people in each country.
11. Only Americans (77%) and French people (52%) are mostly confident that their armed forces could protect their country. Confidence falls to 38% in the UK and 21% in Germany.
12. Four in ten American adults (41%) see the US as a superpower, whereas “medium power” is the most common classification in almost every other country surveyed.
13. China is widely expected to become the leading technological and economic power within 20 years, although expectations about future military and cultural dominance are more divided.
14. Majorities in every country, including the US itself, believe America has become more of a force for bad under Donald Trump, ranging from 52% of Americans to 74% of Britons and Germans.
15. Despite worsening perceptions of the US, majorities in every other country still want good relations with America (52–72%). Britons, Canadians and Germans are the most likely to think Trump has permanently changed US foreign policy.