Russia either ‘enemy’ or ‘unfriendly’ for 55% of Americans – poll
The perception of Russia in the US appears to be close to that of the Cold War era, according to a recent YouGov poll. A third of respondents said they viewed the Russian Federation as “unfriendly,” while a fifth regard it as an “enemy.”
The survey, entitled “America’s Friends and Enemies,” was conducted by the YouGov pollster between January 28 and February 1, and involved “adults living in the United States.”
Out of a total of 144 states in the poll, every respondent was given a list of 15 random countries and asked a question: "Do you consider the countries listed below to be a friend or an enemy of the United States?"
Among 1,313 people who had Russia as one of the listed countries, 22 percent said that they view it as an enemy while 33 percent claimed they regard the country as an unfriendly state.
Sixteen percent of the respondents see Russia as a friend and 3 percent said it was even an ally. The rest of the participants, and that’s a quarter of all respondents, had no certain opinion on the matter.
Russia thus appeared sixth on the list of the countries starting with the least friendly image and going down to the US’s perceived best friends.
The five countries above Russia are Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran and North Korea topping the list of countries seen as US “enemies.” Australia, Paraguay and Madagascar were the only countries whom no one named as an enemy of Washington.
Reuters and a global market research group Ipsos in mid-January revealed similar results. According to their survey, 82 percent of Americans described Russia as a “threat” to the United States, which signaled a rise from 76 percent noted in March 2015.
Meanwhile, a poll conducted in Russia by the Public Opinion Foundation (POF) last months, said that while 22 percent of the respondents regarded the US as a hostile state, 50 percent said they were “indifferent” about the country.
