Favorability of the United States in large European countries 2000-2023
Europeans' opinions of the United States of America have undergone several noticeable shifts since the turn of the millennium. While in the early years of the 2000s the United States' reputation took a hit due to many Europeans' unfavorable opinion on the military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, they subsequently improved following Barack Obama's election in 2008. Again, following Donald Trump's election in 2016, favorability dipped in Europe, but had subsequently improved during the Biden presidency. While public opinion in the five largest Western European countries tends to move in tandem on this issue, there is a noticeable difference between countries, with Germany and Spain having the lowest of the U.S., while Italy and the United Kingdom tend to have more favorable opinions.
Low-points in the European-U.S. relationship
A low-point for favorability of the U.S. in Europe came in March 2003, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, as many Europeans saw the United States' actions as illegitimate due to the lack of a United Nations Security Council resolution to authorize military action. The reputation of the U.S. swiftly moved back to a more moderate stance in European countries up until 2009. Another low-point in Europeans' favorability of the U.S. occurred in 2017, following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president - Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and his strong criticism of the foreign and security policies of European countries, particularly Germany, caused Europeans' favorability of the United States to plummet during the four years of his presidency. Many Europeans have come to view the Republican Party as being further right from the mainstream of European politics than the Democratic Party, who tend to promote politicies that are considered to be in the center-ground in Europe
Pro-American sentiment more common under Democratic presidents
The favorability of the United States in Europe has a clear political component to it, as the U.S. tends to be more in favor when there is a Democrat in the Oval Office, rather than a Republican. Europeans reported much more positive views directly after the election of Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, with the share of respondents reporting favorable opinions jumping by over 30 percent in some countries. This is particularly remarkable considering that this came during the global financial crisis, which had many of its root causes laying in the activities of American banks and financiers on Wall Street. Obama's promise to scale down the United States' military interventions in the Middle East, as well as his general reputation as being a president of change landed well with many Europeans. A similar effect can be seen in 2021, as Europeans reacted positively to the election of Joe Biden over the then-incumbent Donald Trump in November 2020.
