A survey released this week by the German Embassy in Washington reveals that more than half of all Americans have a positive view of Germany, citing shared common values as a key plank of German-American relations.
Conducted on behalf of the German Embassy in Washington by consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. of New York, the survey consists of responses from 1,517 individuals across the country ages 18 and over gathered in December 2011.
Some of the key findings of this survey are highlighted in this edition of The Week in Germany (see the top headline).
A total of 55 percent of respondents said they had an "excellent" or "good" overall impression of Germany, up from 48 percent in 2009, when a previous survey was conducted by Magid. That is higher than at any point in time since 2002, when Magid began conducting a series of surveys on Americans' perceptions of Germany for the German Information Center USA, the Embassy's public diplomacy department.
A majority of respondents – 58 percent – moreover found that Germany plays an important role in international politics, up from 43 percent in 2009.
And they would be correct.
From the German Government's engagement in the international arena as a current member of the UN Security Council (2011/12) to the role of German Bundeswehr troops as peacekeeping forces on the ground in Afghanistan, Germany is a key player on the global political stage, as well as a committed partner and ally of the United States.
So it should come as no surprise that, just ahead of the May 20-21 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Chicago, the German Embassy and the German Information Center USA are launching a new "Think Transatlantic" campaign in a bid to boost intense transatlantic dialogue from universities to think tanks to living rooms to online fora via various activities and channels throughout 2012.
To find out more about the upcoming "Think Transatlantic" campaign, watch this space.
Karen Carstens
Editor, The Week in Germany
Webteam Germany.info
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