Americans tend to think the U.S. relationship with Germany is going just fine. Germans do not, according to a Pew survey.
Breaking it down:
- Americans (60%) are far more likely than Germans (34%) to think their country should be willing to use military force to defend a NATO ally from Russia.
- Germans are divided about the importance of U.S. military bases to their national security, with 52% saying they're at least "somewhat important."
- But Germans rank the U.S. second (behind France) on a list of important foreign policy partners, while the U.S. ranks Germany fifth behind the U.K., China, Canada and Israel.
- In the former East Germany, a plurality of residents say they'd choose good relations with Russia (38%) over the U.S. (23%).
- Germans are also more likely to pick China (53%) than the U.S. (24%) as the world's top economic power.
What to watch: Armin Laschet, the front-runner to replace Angela Merkel as CDU leader and potentially as chancellor, "has warned against demonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin for his annexation of Crimea" and "voiced support for deepening the relationship with Beijing," per Foreign Policy.