U.S. Power Scares 7 Countries, Including Allies
The United States is viewed as a major national threat—taking a place alongside the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), global climate change and cyber attacks—by majority of citizens from seven countries, including some longstanding American military allies, accoreding to a 38-country Pew Research Center survey released Tuesday.
Though 18 of the countries pegged ISIS as the biggest threat, strong majorities in countries including South Korea (70 percent), Japan (62 percent) and Turkey (72 percent) see U.S. power and influence as significant threats to their respective nations.
Sixty-two percent of people in Mexico, the U.S.’s immediate neighbor to the south and often a punching bag for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, register the U.S. as a threat, and it is seen that way by percent in Spain, 55 percent in Indonesia and 57 percent in Chile.
The survey also asked respondents about potential fears regarding Russia and China’s power and influence. South Korea listed China at 83 percent, perhaps a result of its being viewed as enabling the rival North, and Russia at 46 percent. The Japanese also expressed more concern with China than the U.S., but only slightly at 64 percent. Just 43 percent listed Russia as a threat.
Turkey’s numbers dropped significantly when asked about Russia and China, coming in at 54 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
Historically, the U.S. has had a deep and strong military presence in Turkey, Japan and South Korea, particularly Japan following the end of World War II and the South after the Korean War in the early 1950s. As of the end of last year, almost 39,000 U.S. troops were stationed in Japan and nearly another 23,500 were in South Korea.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-power-scares-7-countries-including-allies/ar-AApgDe9?li=BBnb7Kz
