ONE YEAR after the election of Donald Trump, does the world respect America more, or less? A recent survey by the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank, finds that Americans’ responses to this seemingly empirical question differ greatly across party lines. Pew finds that just 42% of Republicans believe that America is now respected less than in previous years. Last year, 70% of them held this belief. The opposite trend can be observed for Democrats, who are more likely to believe that America has lost credibility in the world’s eyes.

The rest of the world seems to agree with Democrats. Another Pew survey, published in June, showed that the prevalence of favourable views of America has fallen in 30 out of 37 countries since Barack Obama left office. The only country in which views of America have improved markedly is Russia, where 41% now see it favourably, up from 15%. Pew’s data show that non-Americans have also become much less confident in the American president “to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs”.

It is possible that Republicans are simply out of touch with how the rest of the world sees America. Another possibility, however, is that Republicans want their country to be feared, rather than loved. They may believe that what is best for other countries is not necessarily best for America. After all, Mr Trump promised to make America, not the rest of the world, great again.