NEW YORK, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - A poll published in New York Tuesday on popular perceptions of and attitudes toward the world's great powers ranked Russia sixth, with little hope of a radical upswing by 2020.
Research conducted by Gallup/TNS-EMNID showed that 27% of respondents worldwide said Russia remained a great power, against a figure of 45% in Russia itself. Ahead of Russia came the European Union (29%), Britain (32%), Japan (37%), China (45%), and the United States (81%).
Respondents in the survey, conducted for Germany's Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation, said Russia would rank fifth (26%) in 2020, after the EU (30%), Japan (32%), China (55%), and the U.S. (57%), but ahead of India, the UN, Britain, Germany, France, Brazil, and South Africa.
"People believe the current supremacy of the U.S. will vanish in the future, but also do not expect a harmonious balance of world powers that is, for example, moderated by the UN," Professor Werner Weidenfeld, member of the board of directors of Bertelsmann Stiftung, was quoted on the foundation's Web site as saying. "They place more emphasis on their own strength in global competition and each wants stability and peace to play a more decisive role in their own country."
Asked about the characteristics required to be a world power, most of the interviewees listed political stability, economic strength, as well as effective education and research. Military strength is only viewed as an important factor by 20% of the respondents, although the figure was 29% in Russia.
The most serious challenges for great powers are international terrorism, poverty, and climate change, respondents said.
Over 10,000 people were surveyed worldwide by Gallup/TNS-EMNID. The survey was conducted in the U.S., Russia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Germany, France, and Britain.
