Why do Americans want to see Russia as their enemy?

In a recent poll conducted by Fox News, the Americans named their main enemies. Predictably and unfortunately, Russia appears in the top five.

Photo: AP photo

Why do Americans want to see Russia ad their enemy?. 60588.jpeg

The DPRK (North Korea) takes the first place on the list of America's prime enemies (93%). Iran and Syria come next with 80 and 76 percent respectively. Russia was ranked fourth with 64 percent of anti-votes. Several years ago, as many as 40 percent of Americans said that they considered Russia an enemy. At the same time, 73% of respondents believe that Donald Trump sees Russia as an ally, while 20% believe that Russia is an enemy to the US president.

As for USA's allies, the biggest ally is Canada (96 percent of respondents), France and the UK (over 90%).

Pravda.Ru requested an expert opinion on the subject from Valery Garbuzov, director of the Institute of the USA and Canada at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"This attitude that the Americans share towards Russia - is it a trend or a consequence of all the media hype surrounding the US presidential election?"

"Many other opinion polls that were conducted earlier showed that Russia was not on the list of the countries that the Americans find attractive. This trend has been the same for many years. Nowadays, a number of recent events have aggravated all this further. The Americans perceive Russia as a threat to their country for nearly a decade. Pew Research conducts regular surveys to find out how certain countries perceive other countries - for example how people in the USA perceive Russia and other countries of the world. If you take a look at those polls, you will see that Russia does not take last positions there in terms of antipathy."

"Why do you think this is happening?"

"I associate this with Russia's activities in foreign policy. It is Russia's foreign policy that many Americans perceive negatively.  Some believe that Russia is committing an act of aggression against Ukraine because of the Donbass, some others remain negative about Crimea's accession to Russia. Many Americans saw Russia negatively during the events in Georgia. The story with Edward Snowden added more fuel to the fire."

"Are you saying that the tougher Russia protects its interests, the more negative reactions it will receive in the world?"

"True. Most foreigners see Russia's revisionist policy as an aspiration to revise many things. Many people see Russia as a threat to the world order that has been formed in the world. Needless to say that Russia will continue defending its interests in the world. This, in turn, will trigger even more negative reactions in the West."

Pravda.Ru

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