A recent survey conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center found that 40% of Americans are unfamiliar with Indian PM Narendra Modi. The survey marks the first time Pew has included a “never heard of” response option. Among those who express an opinion of Modi, 37% have little or no confidence in his ability to do the right thing regarding world affairs, compared to 21% who are confident of his abilities.
The survey revealed that Americans express more confidence in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky than in any of the other six world leaders included in the survey.
More than half of US adults (56%) have at least some confidence that Zelensky will do the right thing regarding world affairs. By comparison, fewer than one in ten have faith in Chinese President Xi Jinping (8%) or Russian President Vladimir Putin (7%).
The survey also found that sizable shares of the US public have not heard of several world leaders. For example, 35% have not heard of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and around a quarter have not heard of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu or French President Emmanuel Macron.
77% of Americans do not have confidence in the Chinese leader, including 47% who have zero faith in him. Meanwhile, Putin is the least trusted among all world leaders in the survey, with 90% saying that they do not have confidence in the Russian president.
Additionally, the survey revealed partisan divisions in Americans’ views of world leaders. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are likelier than their Republican counterparts to have confidence in Zelensky, Macron, and Scholz.
Whereas, Republicans are more likely to have confidence in Netanyahu and Putin. For example, 71% of Democrats have confidence in Zelensky, compared to 44% of Republicans.
There are several significant partisan differences when it comes to how Americans view world leaders. https://t.co/jAGEGkCDi2 pic.twitter.com/luWfaVUnJp
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) April 17, 2023
White evangelical Christians in the US are particularly likely to have confidence in Netanyahu, with 53% falling into this category. By contrast, just 17% of religiously unaffiliated Americans have confidence in him, although 32% have never heard of him.
The report also notes that age differences among Americans play a huge role in their awareness of foreign leaders. “Adults under 30 are much less likely than those aged 65 and older to be familiar with every leader” in the survey. For instance, almost six-in-ten Americans aged between 18-29 say they have never heard of Modi. In contrast, 28% of adults 65 and over have heard of the Indian leader.