A handshake and smile shared between President Obama and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman during today’s meeting in Riyadh won’t completely ease tensions between the allied nations.
Anti-Muslim rhetoric has ramped up among U.S. politicians and a bill that could hold Saudi Arabia accountable for 9/11 has the kingdom’s leaders threatening to pull millions of dollars in funding from the U.S.
Political conflicts aside, however, people from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East and Africa view the U.S. more favorably than the rest of the world does.
More than 3,000 people from the region rank the U.S. the No. 3 Best Country overall, according to data from the 2016 Best Countries rankings, a perception-based characterization of 60 countries. That is one spot better than its overall global rank of No. 4.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, survey responses were collected from seven other countries in the region: Egypt, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In other areas of the Middle East, perceptions of the U.S. tend to be more negative, according to the Pew Research Center. Throughout Africa, however, perceptions of the U.S. remain positive.
Among the regions surveyed in the Best Countries rankings, only Asia thought more highly of the U.S. than the Middle East.
[READ: Saudi-Iranian tensions at play in Lebanon]
But the feeling isn’t always reciprocal. Saudi Arabia struggles with its image in the Americas. People from the region rank Saudi Arabia No. 34, lower than than any other region does and five spots worse than its overall global rank.
In general, people surveyed from the Middle East and Africa tend to favor countries with strong economic outlook and potential.
[READ: The Americas’ Favorite Countries]
Japan, Singapore and China garner favorable perceptions in the region. They each rank three or four spots better than their global average, while perceptions of Sweden, New Zealand and the U.K. drop.
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Does Saudi Arabia Hate the U.S.? Hardly, a Survey Says originally appeared on usnews.com
