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Americans Increasingly See Russia as Threat, Top U.S. Enemy

Rogue Valley

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Americans Increasingly See Russia as Threat, Top U.S. Enemy

Gallup
February 16, 2015

Russia now edges out North Korea as the country Americans consider the United States' greatest enemy. Two years ago, only 2% of Americans named Russia, but that increased to 9% in 2014 as tensions between Russia and the U.S. increased, and now sits at 18%. Americans have also become significantly more likely to view Russia's military power as a critical threat to the U.S. -- 49% now hold this view, compared with 32% a year ago.

Americans' basic views of Russia are the worst Gallup has measured in its 26-year trend, with 24% having favorable and 70% unfavorable views. Russia's favorable rating has declined 10 points in each of the last two years. Just three years ago, Americans' views of Russia were more positive than negative. Americans' ratings of Russian President Vladimir Putin are even worse than their ratings of the country more generally, as 13% have a favorable and 72% an unfavorable view of Putin.

Not surprising at all. Americans are indeed keeping abreast of Russian military expansionism in Europe and Putin's dishonesty and manipulations.
 
Oh boy, it's been the Germans and the Japanese and the Soviets and the Vietnamese, and the Chinese, and the Iranians and the Iraqis and the Syrians and the Libyans and........I'm sure I'm leaving somebody out. Main beneficiary to all this continual fear mongering and conflict, the MIC.
 
Simpleχity;1064319173 said:
Americans Increasingly See Russia as Threat, Top U.S. Enemy



Not surprising at all. Americans are indeed keeping abreast of Russian military expansionism in Europe and Putin's dishonesty and manipulations.

Yes. It seems quite rational to increasingly think about Russia as a threat as its threat grows. Putin is seriously dangerous. There is no doubt. But presently the real danger is more his activity in South America. Only if he can split the EU or the EU from the USA would the situation immediately deteriorate.

But this is all very little dangerous compared to what will be, when multipolarity is further developed.
 
What once was old is new again.
 
Oh boy, it's been the Germans and the Japanese and the Soviets and the Vietnamese, and the Chinese, and the Iranians and the Iraqis and the Syrians and the Libyans and........I'm sure I'm leaving somebody out. Main beneficiary to all this continual fear mongering and conflict, the MIC.


Yeah, because none of those guys were ever a serious threat to anyone, right?


(/irony) :roll:
 
Yeah, because none of those guys were ever a serious threat to anyone, right?


(/irony) :roll:

Oh sure, probably everyone of them threatened US hegemony, and US business, I'll not deny that.
 
Well, I mean we can't be running out of enemies.

Reminds me of a thread about spying on Germany. Someone posted that we shouldn't spy on our friends and of course someone else came back that they won't always be your friends.
 
Reminds me of a thread about spying on Germany. Someone posted that we shouldn't spy on our friends and of course someone else came back that they won't always be your friends.

Point!!
 
Oh sure, probably everyone of them threatened US hegemony, and US business, I'll not deny that.




Yeah, can't let them threaten business or Jiminy, or anything. And there were those little peccadillos like the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, Nanking, and the soviet's ruling eastern Europe for fifty years...
 
Yeah, can't let them threaten business or Jiminy, or anything. And there were those little peccadillos like the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, Nanking, and the soviet's ruling eastern Europe for fifty years...

Nor am I denying that some of them were a threat to others.
 
Simpleχity;1064319173 said:
Americans Increasingly See Russia as Threat, Top U.S. Enemy



Not surprising at all. Americans are indeed keeping abreast of Russian military expansionism in Europe and Putin's dishonesty and manipulations.

Another day, another 'Russia is awful' post/thread from Simpleχity.

The Crimea had a referendum that overwhelmingly chose to become part of Russia. Same with the Donetsk region.


And if America had not encouraged the original rebels to overthrow the corrupt but legitimately elected government in Kiev back then, NONE of this would have happened. All these idiots had to do was wait a few months and legally throw out the guy...but no.

The mess in the Ukraine is more toi do with the rebels that illegally overthrew the government (and the West that backed them to do it) then anything Russia has done.



And so Russia is backing the rebels. Well duh.

And what would America do if a region in Mexico overwhelmingly voted to join America but the government in Mexico used it's military to try and stop it by killing it's own people? Do you think America would support the Mexican rebels trying to join America with arms shipments? Again...well duh.

Russia is no saint and Putin is a pig. But America is staggeringly hypocritical if it thinks Russia is the world's bad guys in terms of running around and bombing people at will. Look in the mirror America (neo-cons in particular). You are FAR more of the cause for world troubles then Russia could ever dream of being.
 
Reminds me of a thread about spying on Germany. Someone posted that we shouldn't spy on our friends and of course someone else came back that they won't always be your friends.

For example Mossad is behind only China and Russia regarding espionage within the US yet Israel gets more money from the US taxpayer in 'aid' by far than any other nation. Go figure ?
 
Americans increasingly don't care about Russia, because the Cold War is over, and no amount of fearmongering by the older generations is going to change that.
 
Testimony to the success of the anti Russian propaganda effort in the last year or so...

Many americans I know are also scared, worried, afraid of ISIS. Orwell was so damn prescient. :mrgreen:
 
Americans increasingly don't care about Russia
The February 2015 poll by Gallup strongly suggests otherwise.

because the Cold War is over
The Cold War was indeed over until Putin decided to militarily invade and illegally annex a neighbor's sovereign territory in 2014. This has not happened in Europe since the end of WWII. If internationally recognized borders are no longer honored and respected, then no nation is secure from a more powerful and/or expansionist-minded neighbor.

Borders are not "mere suggestions". This tenat is a core principle of international relations and a cornerstone of the UN Charter.
 
Oh boy, it's been the Germans and the Japanese and the Soviets and the Vietnamese, and the Chinese, and the Iranians and the Iraqis and the Syrians and the Libyans and........I'm sure I'm leaving somebody out.

Yes, the Serbs.

You helped many former Yugoslav countries be liberated from Serbian hegemony. If left unchecked the whole of Yugoslavia might have today been annexed from Russia just like Ukrainian Crimea.
 
Another day, another 'Russia is awful' post/thread from Simpleχity.

The Crimea had a referendum that overwhelmingly chose to become part of Russia. Same with the Donetsk region.

And if America had not encouraged the original rebels to overthrow the corrupt but legitimately elected government in Kiev back then, NONE of this would have happened. All these idiots had to do was wait a few months and legally throw out the guy...but no.

The mess in the Ukraine is more toi do with the rebels that illegally overthrew the government (and the West that backed them to do it) then anything Russia has done.

And so Russia is backing the rebels. Well duh.

And what would America do if a region in Mexico overwhelmingly voted to join America but the government in Mexico used it's military to try and stop it by killing it's own people? Do you think America would support the Mexican rebels trying to join America with arms shipments? Again...well duh.

Russia is no saint and Putin is a pig. But America is staggeringly hypocritical if it thinks Russia is the world's bad guys in terms of running around and bombing people at will. Look in the mirror America (neo-cons in particular). You are FAR more of the cause for world troubles then Russia could ever dream of being.

Ukraine decided to be free from Russian hegemony. It is a decision that preceded the coup in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Crimea referendum is illegally recognized to be so from the UN.

Basically, Russia continued annexing various countries such as: Chechnya, Northern Georgia, Eastern Ukraine, etc., in a classic medieval conquering the weak style.

The only exception is that Ukraine aint no Georgia!
 
Americans increasingly don't care about Russia, because the Cold War is over, and no amount of fearmongering by the older generations is going to change that.

Having been to Russia a number of times over the last 15 years I can confirm for you that the Cold war is alive and well there. It never really went away for them. They prefer to fear us rather than work with us sadly. Unscrupulous people like Putin can exploit this historical mistrust to suit their own ends
 
Simpleχity;1064322252 said:
The February 2015 poll by Gallup strongly suggests otherwise.


The Cold War was indeed over until Putin decided to militarily invade and illegally annex a neighbor's sovereign territory in 2014. This has not happened in Europe since the end of WWII. If internationally recognized borders are no longer honored and respected, then no nation is secure from a more powerful and/or expansionist-minded neighbor.

Borders are not "mere suggestions". This tenat is a core principle of international relations and a cornerstone of the UN Charter.

You mean a cornerstone of power-hungry politicians desperately hanging onto as much power as possible. The will of the people is what is important - not arbitrary laws insecure governments make to not allow regions to leave.
If you think the will of the people means less then the will of the government - then you are clearly anti-democratic and a complete waste of time to me on this.

Canada is an extremely well respected country and yet, they only require about 60-65% of a popular vote for one of it's provinces to - in essence - leave. And a FAR higher percentage of both Crimea and the Donetsk regions voted to bolt to Russia in their referendums.
The Crimea AND the Donetsk regions voted overwhelmingly to leave...and THAT is all the UN should care about.

The will of the people have overwhelmingly spoken - unfortunately, Kiev (backed by the West) would rather kill it's citizens rather then let them leave (even when over 80% of them want to).

Russia is no saint in this. But Kiev and those in the West that are backing them in the Civil War are FAR more the bad guys, imo.
 
You mean a cornerstone of power-hungry politicians...
No, I meant exactly what I typed.

UN Approves Resolution Calling Russia's Crimea Annexation Illegal

March 27, 2014

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In a sweeping rebuke of Moscow, the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly affirmed Ukraine's territorial integrity and deemed the referendum that led to Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula illegal. The resolution adopted Thursday says the referendum on Crimea has "no validity" and calls on all countries and organizations not to recognize Russia's annexation.
 
You mean a cornerstone of power-hungry politicians desperately hanging onto as much power as possible.

Just like Yanukovych tried to ?

The will of the people is what is important - not arbitrary laws insecure governments make to not allow regions to leave.

I know. Russia should really have kept its nose out of Ukraines business :cool:

If you think the will of the people means less then the will of the government - then you are clearly anti-democratic and a complete waste of time to me on this.

The will of the people or the will of the Kremlin ? They had lived together in peace for 23 years until Putin decided they were getting a bit too keen on EU membership. The rest is history

Canada is an extremely well respected country and yet, they only require about 60-65% of a popular vote for one of it's provinces to - in essence - leave. And a FAR higher percentage of both Crimea and the Donetsk regions voted to bolt to Russia in their referendums.
The Crimea AND the Donetsk regions voted overwhelmingly to leave...and THAT is all the UN should care about.

Referendums are worthless when the populace are under occupation and its being conducted at the point of a gun

The will of the people have overwhelmingly spoken - unfortunately, Kiev (backed by the West) would rather kill it's citizens rather then let them leave (even when over 80% of them want to).

How many western troops are in Ukraine killing its citizens ?

Russia is no saint in this. But Kiev and those in the West that are backing them in the Civil War are FAR more the bad guys, imo

Then you are simply wrong. This has been Russia's game from the get go and is the culmination of a long catalogue of its interference in Ukrainian internal affairs since Putin came to power
 
The people of Crimea made their choice by voting to return to Russian umbrella. The UN is playing God and overturning the peoples decision.
The constitutions of both Ukraine and Crimea stipulated that any change in Crimea's status must be approved by *all* of the Ukrainian people, not just the citizens living on the peninsula. How can it be that >1% of Ukraine's population of 46 million has the final say on what happens to land that belongs to all the Ukrainian people?
 
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