In July, the Pew Research Center found that for the first time in roughly two decades of global polling, the world now views China more favorably than the United States. The sentiment was not universal, but in 25 of the 36 countries surveyed this year, the percentage of respondents who gave favorable marks to China exceeded that for the United States, including several close U.S. allies. Some analysts have taken these findings as confirmation that the golden era of American soft power is over and China is ascendant. According to them, Trump’s policies on tariffs, aid, and allies have eroded…
