This polling data comes from Levada via Angus Reid.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? – The purpose of America’s foreign policy is the complete destruction of Russia. Agree – 43% Disagree – 42% Hard to answer – 15% Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center Methodology: Interviews to 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Dec. 7 to Dec. 10, 2007. No margin of error was provided.
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One Comment
There’s two issues with this.The first is that the poll doesn’t actually indicate that “most” Russians fear America, just that “more” fear American than don’t.Second, I don’t think it’s possible any longer, if it ever was, to place any faith or confidence in polls that are generated by Russian sources. If the Kremlin can manipulate elections so blithely (taking over 95% of the poll in some areas, for instance) then it can surely manipulate poll results.One can suggest that if pressed to name specific U.S. policy initiatives that have actually damaged Russia, the respondents would be hard-pressed to do so, and even harder-pressed to justify Russian military aid to arch American foes like Venezuela and Iran. Surely, they would understand that such actions would call for a U.S. response.Indeed, it wouldn’t be difficult to argue that the U.S. has every right in the world to destroy Russia as it currently exists, since it represents a clear threat to American national security just as the USSR did. What else should the people of Russia expect, if they choose to be governed by a hotly anti-American KGB spy?But the reality is that Russians have never been given a real choice in an election between two viable candidates, one pro-U.S. and one anti, so we don’t really know what they think. And even if they were, their media sources have been obliterated, so their ability to understand reality is warped and unreliable.