These are some of the results of a Harris Poll of 2,335 U.S. adults conducted online between December 4 and 12, 2007 by Harris Interactive ^®.

Other countries whose governments are seen as friendly by more than 40 percent, but below Israel and Kuwait, are Turkey (47%), Egypt (46%), Saudi Arabia (42%) and Jordan (42%). The governments least likely to be seen as either close allies or friends are Iran (4%), Syria (14%), Libya (15%), Lebanon (18%) and Iraq (19%).

Looking at the reverse side of the equation, two-thirds (67%) of Americans see Iran as unfriendly and an enemy with just under half (47%) feeling the same about Iraq. Other countries whose governments are seen as unfriendly and an enemy by more than one-third of Americans are Syria (39%) and Afghanistan (38%).

A good number of countries fall into the middle category – not friendly, but not an enemy. Majorities of Americans say Lebanon and Libya are neither friendly nor an enemy (55% for both countries) while pluralities say the same about Syria (47%), Jordan (46%), Egypt (45%), Pakistan (45%), and Turkey (44%).

Changes Since Last Year

When this question was asked in August of 2006, Israel and Kuwait were still the countries most likely to be considered a close ally or a friend. One thing that changed is the number of people who believe this has dropped. In 2006, three-quarters of Americans (75%) thought Israel was a close ally, but not a close ally while half (51%) thought the same of Kuwait. This year those numbers are 67 percent and 48 percent respectively.

On the other hand, the number of Americans citing countries as unfriendly and an enemy has either stayed the same as last year or has dropped. For example, while over half (52%) said Syria was unfriendly and an enemy in 2006, that number has dropped to 39 percent this year. Even Iran, who garnered a great deal of media attention this year saw a drop – in 2006, 76 percent of Americans said it was unfriendly and an enemy, while this year it is 67 percent.

Methodology

This Harris Poll ^® was conducted online within the United States December 4 and 12, among 2,335 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents ’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error ” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.