U.S. Plummets in Global Power Ranking - Researchers Say Trump to Blame

U.S. Plummets in Global Power Ranking - Researchers Say Trump to Blame

Germany has unseated the United States to become the world’s leading “soft power," according to the Global Soft Power Index 2021 by Brand Finance released on Thursday.

The U.S. is now 6th in the rankings that define soft power as “a nation’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviors of various actors in the international arena (states, corporations, communities, publics etc.) through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion.”

“A year of widespread turmoil has been starkly reflected in America’s steep downfall in the Global Soft Power Index 2021, making it the fastest falling nation globally,” said Brand Finance in their release. “Between a turbulent election campaign and a haphazard COVID-19 response, the nation has lost its position as the world’s soft power superpower, falling to 6th position with an overall Index score of 55.9 out of 100.”

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The United States finds itself at the very bottom of their COVID metric – ranking an abysmal 105th.

U.S. vs. Germany

“The raging of the virus across the US combined with former President Trump’s rebuke of medical expertise and touting of reckless home-remedies is the most likely culprit for the waning of America’s long-held role model status internationally, at a time where sensible global leadership has arguably been most needed,” said David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was named the world’s most respected leader

"Merkel’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic epitomises her renowned credibility, with the specialist audiences surveyed perceiving Germany as the nation that handled the pandemic the best, and the general public ranking the nation 5th," said Brand Finance.

"A scientist by training, Merkel’s response was solely data-driven, and her methodical approach was viewed as a relative success on the global stage, proven by the nation recording consistently lower cases per 100,000 than its Western European counterparts," they added. 

Japan was ranked second, following by Great Britain, Canada, Switzerland, then the U.S. -- which was #1 in last year's ranking. 

See the full report here.