We're Number One!

We are, Numero Uno and all that but there were a lot of duds in the competition.

Canada came out tops in a BBC survey asking respondents to rate 12-countries - Britain, Canada, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Russia, the United States and Venezuela - as having a positive or negative influence in the world. The broadcaster surveyed 28,000 people to come up with its results.

Bottom slot went to Israel then Iran and the US.

Canada topped the list followed by Japan and France. Britain, China and India were also viewed somewhat positively.

"'It appears that people around the world tend to look negatively on countries whose profile is marked by the pursuit of military power,'' said Steven Kull, director of the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, which conducted the research along with pollster GlobeScan.

"Countries that relate to the world primarily through soft power, like France and Japan and the EU in general, tend to be viewed positively,'' he added.

"Pollsters questioned about 1,000 people in 27 different countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, India, Brazil, Mexico and Australia; as well as four predominantly Muslim countries: Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia; and two countries with large Muslim populations: Lebanon and Nigeria."

Maybe somebody should tell Harpo that we don't need to brandish a lot of guns, Canada is already pretty well respected without them.