The XX Factor: What women really think.

The World Hates America a Little Less

When I saw the headline "America's Global Image Stops Sinking in a Poll" on the New York Times Lede blog, I clicked on it eagerly, expecting (because I'm gullible) some moderate to good news. Sadly, the poll—a worldwide survey conducted by the BBC and GlobeScan—isn't very comforting.

On the plus side, America's reputation abroad has actually improved over the past year in 11 of 23 countries and worsened in just three. But 47 percent of responders still think the U.S. has a negative influence in the world, and just 35 percent think the U.S. has a positive influence.

Also, the world hates America more than it hates Russia, which is pretty amazing. We've only managed to stay ahead of four countries in favorability ratings—North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Israel, which isn't much to brag about.

The Axis powers, meanwhile, are doing great: Germany and Japan are at the top of the "mainly positive influence" list. So stop yourself before trying the old "you'd be speaking German if it weren't for us" line on your anti-American friends in Europe.