Machiavelli said it is better to be feared than loved. But the Italian philosopher also cautioned against being hated. The latest survey by the Pew Research Center on global attitudes towards the US and its president suggests that America is ignoring that advice. It is no surprise the rest of the world does not much like President Donald Trump, and that negativity is particularly pronounced in Europe. What is more serious is that the dislike is translating into feelings about the US as a whole. Traditionally, views of the nation and its president have been more separate.
There has been a dramatic fall in the percentage of people in most countries who believe that the US will take care of them, or their interests. A whopping 80 per cent of Germans, for example, say that the US is doing less to deal with global problems than it has in the past.
Declining perceptions of America on the world stage did not begin with Mr Trump. Before the 2013 furore over the National Security Agency and its pursuit of whistleblower Edward Snowden, a far higher percentage of the world believed that Americans took at least their own civil rights seriously. Far fewer still believe that to be true today.