There has never been more global interest in the leadership of the United States, nor US interest in global opinion about the American leadership. ABC political editor Chris Uhlmann's two-minute viral video assessment of President Trump's G20 performance at the weekend is yet another example of the demand for — and fascination with — opinion on the direction of US foreign policy.

Events of recent weeks — North Korea's missile tests and Trump's public disappointment with China's inability to slow North Korea's nuclear ambitions — are also reminders of what Australians have long understood: that the Indo-Pacific is the locus of the world's most pressing geo-political dilemmas and that the strategic tension between the United States and China is the definitive, international rivalry of our age.

The United States Studies Centre's second survey of attitudes on America's role in the Indo-Pacific was fielded in Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea one month into the Trump presidency, with the assistance of other think tanks in the region. Comparisons with identical questions asked on our 2015 survey give us unique insight into how Trump's election changed attitudes toward the United States throughout the region.