A prominent US pollster, Harris Interactive, has released theresults of its yearly poll, which examines Americans' feelings toward other countries by asking them to rank the countries on a scale from "close ally" to "unfriendly."



The top four "close allies" remain the same as last year: Great Britain, with 70% of the respondents ranking it as such, followed by Canada (51%), Australia (45%), and Israel (43%). Israel has been ranked fourth for the past three years. The perception of the Jewish State as a "close ally" reached a record ranking of 44% in 2003 - a level matched only in 1991, the year of the first Gulf War.



Other countries viewed favorably as "friends" or "close allies" by substantial numbers are Mexico, Italy, South Korea, Spain and the Netherlands. Last year, France, an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, dropped ten places, to 18th place. A full 42% of Americans regard France as "unfriendly" or "enemy." The other countries that the largest number of Americans see as "not friendly" or worse are China (54%), Pakistan (49%), and Colombia (40%).



The Harris Poll surveyed 1,012 adults across the US by telephone in mid-August.