Before the recent US presidential election, Americans and Germans generally viewed the relationship between their countries as positive, according to opinion polls conducted in each country by the Pew Research Center and the Korber Stiftung. However, there were some differences in views on topics including bilateral partnerships, conflicts around the world and the military threat posed by China.
The joint polls by the Center and the Körber Foundation were conducted in September – before the US presidential election, but between the elections in the German states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia, resulting in greater support for far-right parties. The Körber-Stiftung separately conducted a follow-up poll in Germany after the US elections.
Here are several key findings about US-German relations, based on opinion polls conducted in September. It is important to note that attitudes may have changed following the US elections on November 5.
In 2017, the Pew Research Center and the Korber Foundation began collaborating on joint public opinion polls to measure relations between the United States and Germany. Topics surveyed include relations with other countries; Partnerships on foreign policy issues; The views of China, Russia and the conflict in the Middle East. democracy; the rise of emerging economies; And the state of international relations.
The questions were developed together, and each organization fielded a survey in their country starting in 2017. Some questions were repeated annually to track attitudes over time.
The results have been published in both countries. Below are the Center's reports for November 2023, October 2022, November 2021, November 2020, May 2020, March 2020, March 2019 and February 2018. The Körber Foundation's findings are contained in its larger report “Berlin Pulse” and can be found here for 2024 and previous years.
For the U.S. results, Pew Research Center surveyed 1,021 adults from September 20-29, 2024. Ipsos conducted the poll for Pew Research Center in the Ipsos KnowledgePanel Government & Academic Omnibus. Ipsos' KnowledgePanel is an online survey panel recruited using address-based sampling. The survey is weighted by gender, age, race and ethnicity, education, income and other categories.
The German results are from a Körber-Stiftung survey of 1,010 adults from September 11 to 20, 2024. The survey was conducted by Kantar Public by telephone. The Korber Foundation also conducted a follow-up survey in Germany (but not in the United States) after the US election.
Below are the questions used in this analysis, along with the answers, and the US survey methodology.
Bilateral relations between the United States and Germany
About three out of four Germans (74%) describe relations between the two countries as good. This is largely due to two-thirds of German respondents saying that relations are fairly good.
Most Germans have held positive views of the relationship since 2021, after the election of President Joe Biden. However, some Germans view the relationship more negatively:
35% of people living in the former East Germany describe relations with the United States as bad, compared to about 19% of people living in the former West Germany. 44% of Germans who support the far-right Alternative for Germany party say US-German relations are bad, including 13% who say they are very bad.
Related: 7 facts about the AfD in Germany
Americans are more optimistic about US-German relations: 84% say the relationship is good, while 23% say it is very good. Positive views of the relationship have risen steadily since we first asked the question in 2017.
Senior foreign policy partners
Americans are still more likely to view the United Kingdom as the most important foreign policy partner. This has been the case since we first asked the question in 2017.
While 20% mentioned the UK in the open-ended question, several other countries were mentioned. For example, one in ten Americans say that Israel is currently the United States' most important foreign policy partner. This is 6 percentage points higher than last year.
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to name Israel as America's largest foreign policy partner (21% vs. 4%).
An additional 7% of Americans described China as the United States' number one foreign policy partner.
In Germany, 47% of respondents consider the United States to be their most important foreign policy partner. Conversely, only 4% of Americans chose Germany as America's most important partner.
Nearly a quarter of Germans (27%) chose France, making it the second most popular choice.
Partnerships on common issues
Americans and Germans view each other largely as partners in achieving common goals. For example, about two-thirds of Americans and Germans view the other country as a partner in promoting free trade.
But there is one notable exception: environmental protection.
Of the five goals we asked about, Germans are least likely to view the United States as a partner in environmental protection. About a quarter (26%) say that the United States is a partner in this goal, compared to about half or more who say this for the other goals we asked about. 71% of Germans say that the United States is not a partner in protecting the environment.
Germans are more likely to view the United States as a partner when it comes to dealing with the war in Ukraine – seven out of ten Germans acknowledge a partnership on this issue.
Among Americans, the majority consider Germany a partner in all the goals we asked about, except for dealing with the war between Israel and Hamas, where 46% say Germany is a partner. There are partisan differences on this issue: 56% of Democrats and 40% of Republicans view Germany as a partner in dealing with the war.
There are also partisan divisions over the goal of dealing with China. About two-thirds of Democrats (66%) see Germany as a partner in this, compared to half of Republicans.
In Germany there are similar divisions over some of the goals we asked about:
On almost all issues, a majority of AfD supporters say the United States is not a partner. The only exception is free trade, where views are divided: 44% of AfD supporters consider the United States a partner and 48% say the opposite. When it comes to dealing with the war between Israel and Hamas, 59% of West Germans say the United States is a partner, while only about a third (34%) of East Germans agree.
Perceptions of global threats
Americans are more likely than Germans to view China, Russia, and Iran as military threats to their country:
China: 64% of Americans say China poses a major military threat, while only 10% of Germans agree. Russia: Americans are 20 points more likely than Germans to view Russia as a military threat (59% vs. 39%). This comes despite Germany's relative proximity to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Iran: Americans see Iran as a military threat nearly three times as often as Germans (42% vs. 15%).
On the other hand, more Germans than Americans say that these countries do not pose any military threat.
Given the differences among Americans, older people are more likely than younger people to see all of these countries as major military threats. Americans with a bachelor's degree or higher education are also more likely to say this than those with less education.
In terms of party affiliation, Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP are more likely than Democrats and those who lean Democratic to see China and Iran as major military threats. However, supporters of both parties have similar views towards Russia.
Since last year, fewer Americans say China and Russia pose significant military threats. German sentiment has changed little.
Views of China
Germans are more concerned about China from an economic perspective, and their concern has increased in the past year. Today, 56% of Germans say China poses a major economic threat to their country. In 2023, 49% said so.
Two-thirds of Americans still view China as a major economic threat. This is similar to the share that China poses a major military threat.
As with views of China as a military threat, older Americans are more likely than younger Americans to say China poses a major economic threat. Republicans and Americans with higher incomes are especially likely to say this.
On the other hand, the Germans and Americans agree that China's growing influence in the world is more a bad thing than a good thing. Two-thirds of Americans and 61% of Germans say this.
Views on the Russian-Ukrainian war
People in the United States and Germany are more divided over the Russia-Ukraine war. Similar opinions in each country say Ukraine should continue fighting, but there are disagreements about the alternative.
In Germany:
47% say Ukraine should keep fighting until it regains all the territory it lost from Russia. 43% say Ukraine should give up territory to end the war. 6% are not sure.
However, there are differences among Germans by political party in supporting Ukraine to continue fighting. Only 21% of AfD supporters want Ukraine to keep fighting, compared to 57% of centre-left Social Democrats and 51% of centre-right CDU/CSU supporters.
In the United States:
44% say Ukraine should continue fighting 14% say Ukraine should cede its territory to Russia to end the war 39% are not sure
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to support Ukraine continuing to fight, although Republicans are also more likely to be unsure.
Changes in the influence of the European Union
The Germans are more pessimistic than the Americans about the global influence enjoyed by the European Union. In the United States, 49% say the European Union's influence has remained about the same in recent years. Another 23% say it has become weaker, and 20% say it is getting stronger.
But in Germany, respondents were split between saying the EU is getting weaker (44%) and staying roughly the same (42%). Only 12% say that the European Union's influence has become stronger.
There are also partisan differences among Americans. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that the European Union's influence has grown or stayed the same, while Republicans are more likely to say that its influence has weakened.
Note: Below are the questions used in this analysis, along with the answers, and the US survey methodology.
