Bertelsmann Stiftung - direct/ Bertelsmann Stiftung: EU is added perceived common as a all-around player

International assessment survey: US adventures affecting accident of ability - Rapidly growing acquaintance of ecology threats - EU accustomed as apple ability

Berlin, December 12, 2007 - The European Union is added perceived all over the apple as a all-around power, and is advancing to play a above role on the all-embracing date in 2020 afterwards the US, China and Russia. The US´s superpower angel is fading, while China and Russia accept risen awfully in stature. There was a fasten in abounding locations of the apple in people´s acquaintance of the dangers of altitude change and ecology devastation. Climate aegis and abjection are currently apparent as the a lot of important tasks adverse all-embracing action makers. These are some of the allegation of a common assessment poll conducted by the German foundation, the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

According to the poll, the European Union already enjoys the acceptability of a all-around player, and was ranked fifth on boilerplate by all all-embracing respondents. This account improves for the Europeans as time goes on. When asked which nations and organizations would be all-around admiral in 2020, every third being mentioned the EU. On the added hand, the US absent its acknowledged administration position. While 81% of humans would still alarm the US a apple ability today, alone 61% apprehend it to absorb this position into 2020. Once again, China, India and - added afresh - Russia accept abundantly additional their own profiles as all-around players. With a 57% acknowledgment rate, China was mentioned about as frequently as the US as a approaching superpower. They were followed added down by Russia with 37%, the EU with 33%, Japan with 33% and India with 29%.

Compared to the United Nations, the EU is perceived as a actual able amateur in all-around politics. This applies in all countries surveyed except India, area the UN has a college standing. And in China, the acumen of the EU as a apple ability rose decidedly - by 15 allotment credibility in the accomplished two years.

When asked if their own country should abet added carefully with the EU, the all-inclusive majority of the all-embracing respondents - 74 % on boilerplate - said yes. This admiration is decidedly able in China and Russia, area stronger ties with the EU are favoured by 98% and 91% of respondents, respectively. In the US, these numbers were 78%, in Brazil 70%, in India 68% and in Japan 48%.

Recent years accept apparent a about-face in perceptions of what challenges face the apple and what goals all-around players should plan towards. For example, in about all the countries surveyed, acquaintance of ecology threats skyrocketed, while dangers such as all-around agitation were beheld as beneath urgent. Awareness of ecology problems has risen added than 10 allotment credibility common back 2005. The allotment of humans who beheld altitude change and ecology confusion as all-around threats rose in all countries surveyed, but abnormally in the US (+22 allotment points), China (+17 allotment points) and Japan (+16 allotment points). On average, 54% of all humans beheld ecology abolition as the a lot of important threat. Only in Russia (31%) and India (28%) did a boyhood of the citizenry appearance this botheration as a above threat. At the aforementioned time, the perceived acceptation of all-around agitation showed no change compared to two years ago. The added key challenges cited by respondents were abjection and overpopulation, war, ability scarcity, and religious conflicts and fundamentalism.

What all-around threats predominate in people´s angle varies appreciably from country to country. In India, abjection and bottleneck are mentioned a lot of often, while Russians adduce the dangers of war, the Chinese ability absence and the French religious fundamentalism.

Summarizing the study, Josef Janning, Head of International Relations at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, noted, "People´s approaching expectations authority astronomic amplitude over policymaking. All over the world, humans see the US accident its ascendant position and China accepting ground. However, they don´t apprehend the affectionate of harmonious, counterbalanced apple adjustment you ability apprehend from a all-around government run by the United Nations. Instead, in about every country, humans plan to await on their own backbone in all-around antagonism and ambition their own countries to play beyond roles in overextension accord and stability. If this angle and apprehension takes authority in all-around politics, we may see a improvement of the array of nationalistic brinkmanship amid accepted and approaching all-around admiral that we accomplished so disastrously in 20th aeon Europe. However, the blackmail of altitude change appears to be auspicious greater political cooperation at the all-embracing level."

Gallup International/TNS-EMNID, an assessment analysis firm, afresh questioned 9,000 humans in the US, Russia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Germany, France and the UK for the Bertelsmann Stiftung study. As a benchmark, the allegation were compared with a agnate Bertelsmann Stiftung analysis from 2005. The after-effects of the apple ability analysis were presented at the additional affair of the Bertelsmann Stiftung´s Global Policy Council in Berlin. The board brings calm high-calibre experts from assorted fields and regions to appraisal the challenges and opportunities inherent in the dynamics of globalization, the acceleration of new admiral and the actualization of new aegis risks.

About the Bertelsmann Stiftung:
The Bertelsmann Stiftung is a non-profit German foundation. As a anticipate catchbasin and political consulting institution, it is committed to developing innovative, accommodating solutions for the challenges faced by a globalized world. One of its capital areas of ability is all-embracing relations. Established in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn, a German businessman, it is still a majority actor of Bertelsmann AG, an all-embracing media company. In its projects, the Bertelsmann Stiftung is non-partisan and absolute from the company.

To download data about the all-embracing survey, go to:
www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/bst/de/media/xcms_bst_dms_231...

Contact:
Stefani Weiss, Project Manager, Bertelsmann Stiftung
Email: s.weiss@bertelsmann.de
Phone: ++32 - 22 80 28 30

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