In Pew Research Center's most recent Global Attitudes and Trends, Pew looked at how 26 nations around the world viewed threats to the globe. While the authors of the study looked at many threats including climate change, ISIS, cyberattacks, North Korea's nuclear power and the global economy, they also looked at two threats which I found particularly interesting given the seemingly endless growth of diplomatic strains between Russia and the United States. In this posting, I would like to provide you with data for all 26 nations comparing the percentage of people that feel that American power and influence is a major threat to their nation compared to the percentage of people that feel that Russia's power and influence is a major threat to their nation.
Here is a table showing the percentage of people who feel that the United States is the biggest threat to their nation compared to the percentage of people who feel that Russia is the biggest threat to their nation noting that Americans and Russians were not asked about the threat posed by their own nations:
As you can see, when the results from the United States and Russia are compared, respondents from 17 out of 26 nations believe that the United States is a bigger threat than Russia (albeit, three nations show only a one or two percentage point difference between the two) and 7 nations believe that Russia is a bigger threat than the United States. When looking at the individual results, it is interesting to see that a very substantial 67 percent of South Koreans believe that the United States is a major threat to their security compared to only 44 percent who believed that Russia was the major threat. Two-thirds or 66 percent of Japanese believe that the United States is a great threat compared to only 49 percent that believe Russia to be a great threat to their nation. Lastly, even though Germany is ground zero for a Russia vs. Europe war, 49 percent of Germans believe that the United States is a major threat compared to only 30 percent who believe that Russia is a major threat to their national security. Despite what Washington would have us believe about the Russian Bear and Vladimir Putin, these numbers tell us a great deal about the current state of the world and its relationship with the United States.
Here is a bar graph which shows the data in graphic form with nations that feel that the United States is the greater threat on the positive side of the x-axis and nations that feel that Russia is the greater threat on the negative side of the x-axis and the difference between the two results:
I found it particularly interesting that nations like Germany, Japan, Mexico and South Korea which have traditionally been viewed as pro-American overwhelmingly found that the United States was a greater threat to their nation than Russia. Not surprisingly, only a very small 15 percent of Israelis felt that the United States was a greater threat compared to 28 percent who felt that Russia was a greater threat, however the percentage of Israelis that are concerned about American power is up from only 9 percent in 2013.
Looking back in time, more people now believe that the United States is a greater threat to their nation than in 2013 and 2017; in 2018, a median of 45 percent of all respondents believed that the United States was a major threat to their nation, up from 38 percent in 2017 and 25 percent in 2013. Here is a table showing the three year comparisons for all nations:
Once again, it is interesting to observe that nations like France and Germany that have traditionally been viewed as pro-American have seen the highest increase in their assessment of the threat posed by American power.
The growing power and influence wielded by the United States is now rather widely viewed by the world as a far greater threat than the power and influence wielded by Russia, particularly when one looks back to 2013. Respondents in just over 70 percent of the 26 nations in the study feel that America forms a greater threat to their home nation than the much-vilified Russia, a result that is not terribly surprising given the events of the past two years in Washington.
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One of the things we often forget is that many Americans don't really know very much about Russia or the Russian people and most of what they have been told has been filtered through a national security apparatus so entrenched in a cold war mindset they appear paranoid. It is clear the warmongering faction residing within Washington has declared Russia a major threat and sparked massive media coverage to convince us it is true.
ReplyDeleteThe myth of Russia's strength has been amplified by journalists seeking to routinely curry favor with government sources and others by falsely hyping the official point of view. The fact is Russia's economy is rather small and while over the years they produce and export a lot of weapons their military is not well funded. More on Russia today in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2018/09/russia-today-country-not-television.html
The Russia n military may not be well funded compared to that of the U.S.A. However $1.00 spent by the Russian Govt. On their armed forces equates to at least $10.00 spent in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteRussian military spending is a matter of survival. The two world wars taught them that. USA military spending is for graft, corruption, and jobs programs. It is a money making venture and has little to do with defense.
ReplyDeleteWhat about China? Sure military aggression may be low on their list but economically they are a powerhouse. The US usually precludes intervention or war with economic sanctions.China economically can threaten stability, hence peace, with certain sanctions themselves.
ReplyDeletePoland, which was dominated by Russian for nearly 50 years, what do they say? Are they as interested in bashing the US as others are?
ReplyDeleteNo, I guess they aren't. I wonder why they are an outlier. Maybe it would be instructive to find out.
I'm surprised to see Japan, Australia, South Korea, Spain, Italy and Sweden on the list because they, with the exception of Sweden, supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (with Australia even deploying troops there) (to the best of my knowledge, Sweden opposed). Not at all surprised with Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Israel and the UK. The Netherlands is a rather interesting case for this ex-Dutchophile (for lack of a better term), as they, just like Germany, France and Canada and unlike Poland and Hungary, have been under American NATO hegemony for more than 20 years, never mind half a century.
ReplyDeleteI found it particularly interesting that nations like Germany, Japan, Mexico and South Korea which have traditionally been viewed as pro-American overwhelmingly found that the United States was a greater threat to their nation than Russia.
Once again, it is interesting to observe that nations like France and Germany that have traditionally been viewed as pro-American have seen the highest increase in their assessment of the threat posed by American power.
Not that I'm disagreeing with you here, but during the Iraq War the media in France and Germany overwhelmingly opposed the invasion of Iraq, leading to accusations of anti-Americanism from the likes of *cough* David's Medienkritik.
- Josep
I agree with the thesis that the US is ever growing threat to comparative to that of Russia. However, the utmost threat to the humankind is emanating from the so called "deep state", which is directed against the US itself. What is going on in the US since Ronald Reagan is nothing but Civil War, which after 2016 election became open. God will not save America if Democrats succeed in 2020.
ReplyDelete