r/europe Ararat 🏔️🇦🇲 Jul 20 '25

Data Who do people think is their country’s greatest threat? | 2025 Pew Research Study

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3.2k

u/Cynicastic Jul 20 '25

I wonder what that poll looked like in 2022?

2.5k

u/stonklord420 Jul 20 '25

I bet the US jumped from near last to first for Canada.

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u/Away-Wave-2044 Jul 20 '25

And probably for a few other countries as well. Almost tied with Russian for first.

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u/ky80sh83nd3r Jul 20 '25

Almost like Russia is running both governments.

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u/LongDongSilverDude Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 22 '25

I mean our president (Krasinov) in the US is a Russian stooge

27

u/Big-Stuff-1189 Jul 20 '25

Not just the president, I'd say.

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u/RemarkablePiglet3401 United States of America Jul 20 '25

Half the government are Russian agents. The other half doesn’t give a shit about that fact.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

Brainwashed western people. They attack Russia each century several times and they call Russia a threat. It’s you the threat. To the world.

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u/bebelli Jul 20 '25

The US has been a threat to many global south countries for a long time.

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u/northbk5 Jul 20 '25

AIPAC feels offended by this comment

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/TeamSpatzi Franconia (Germany) Jul 20 '25

Those would be the rational people. A Nation that doesn’t share your values or your long term world view and wiling to use force against both will always be a threat.

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u/JimmyJoeMick Jul 20 '25

China hasn't attacked another country in over 40 years. The USA drops 50 bombs on other countries every day on average for the last 30 years. The USA doesnt share Canadians values, they are an imperialist war machine that is running out of targets and now going after allies.

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u/Former-Win635 Jul 20 '25

I am more afraid of economic oppression, misinformation, cultural domination especially with the use of ai than I am of war. The United States poses the greatest threat to the world at the moment. Makes sense for border countries to be concerned with Russia and china though.

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u/SirCadogen7 Jul 20 '25

economic oppression,

That would still be China though, no? Considering it's the manufacturing capital of the world? That's the entire reason they're being allowed to genocide the Uyghurs without reprisal. Because they have the rest of the world by the balls economically.

misinformation

That would be Russia and to a lesser extent China.

cultural domination

That's inherent to any hegemon. Besides, depending on your definition of cultural domination that could mean something as simple as a country like the US being responsible for the most amount of media in the world because of how great it's film industry is. That's an unfair criticism given any "remedy" to that would have to be a blatant violation of the USA's national sovereignty.

with the use of ai

What use of AI? You mean Trump telling ChatGPT to draw him as a Sith Lord from his porcelain throne?

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u/wtvmyusernameis Jul 20 '25

Lol. Absolutely delusional. Trump will be gone in three years. China and Russia will still have the same leadership long after he is dead. They are still the biggest threats for a possible start to ww3 and thinking anything else means you're being manipulated.

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u/SnappySausage Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

Yeah, the US never did its weird foreign interventions before Trump, did they? It's honestly bizarre we see the US as some peaceful nation where it's just temporarily bad because of currently leadership.

That may be our European privilege, as the US largely leaves Europe alone, but there is not a single other country in the world that's been even remotely as big of a war hawk over the past 75 years across basically all of their presidents.

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u/wtvmyusernameis Jul 20 '25

You're right. I guess I'd say if you live in the middle east ect that the US would be the biggest threat. But if you are European or Canadian I just don't see how people actually think the US is a threat to us.

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u/Wherestheshoe Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

In Canada’s case, he told our PM that he plans to economically weaken us and then annex us. If that doesn’t sound like a threat to you, well then I don’t know what to tell you.

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u/SnappySausage Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

I think it may depend on what you consider the threat. I don't think many people assume the US will go to war with us, that seems very unlikely (Though they have threatened Greenland). But I think it's quite obvious that the US will happily vassalise its "allies", if it hasn't mostly done so already. American nationalists seem to believe the entire world should bend the knee to them, kiss the ground before them and the US has never thought twice about attacking or invading countries that are not US-aligned if they can get away with it. If suddenly a large chunk of European countries were a lot less US-aligned than they are now, I think this entire dynamic would change and that we wouldn't be treated much better than the middle east.

The situation surrounding national defence and demands to basically funnel percentages of our GDP into their economy (because they want us to not produce any weapons ourselves) is also quite a perverse thing if you ask me.

US interventionism in the middle east have also caused massive migrant waves, which arguably have caused a lot of instability here (whether you want to put the blame for this on the US, the middle eastern countries or European countries for this is a matter of perspective, but I blame the country that lit the fuse).

There are also other components such as that the US is quite a threat to countries' independence. They very often compete in unfair ways, buy up just about everything (look at how many places here are bought out by American multinationals and investment firms/private equity), do things like force their large companies to bend the knee to the government, China-style (the situation with the ICJ recently is a good example), forcing foreign countries to do exactly as they demand, etc. There's also their right wing heavily influencing things here, funding eurosceptic parties, etc. They really are not good for EU stability if you ask me.

Also I think the rhetoric surrounding making Canada a state is also a pretty big sign of why Canadians are right to be very leery of the US with regards to their independence. It wouldn't be the first time the US has done a large territorial acquisition.

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u/Skeletor_with_Tacos Jul 20 '25

Economic oppression? Yes has the USA benefited, absolutely, but under US hegemony Europe and the planet as a whole have become some of the most economically prosperous and safe in terms of historical data.

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u/UncleBarbrady Jul 20 '25

Yea ok buddy you are either a bot or totally misinformed

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u/eroux Jul 20 '25

... and the U.S. Of course.

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u/Jello-e-puff Jul 20 '25

Overwhelmingly, it’s 3 countries. 🇨🇳🇷🇺🇺🇸

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u/BlinkyMJF Jul 20 '25

"America first"

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u/pavlodrag Jul 20 '25

Almost tied?The U.S are way ahead

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u/Away-Wave-2044 Jul 20 '25

Oh I was only counting the “most common” column. But yes, if you look at all the columns then US wins by a landslide.

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u/RemarkablePiglet3401 United States of America Jul 20 '25

How can a country be tied with itself?

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u/Basic_Hospital_3984 Jul 20 '25

Things have gotten pretty stark here in Australia when talking about America, I wonder what the topic is like in Canada.

Even talking with Japanese friends, who never talk about politics, they've been bringing the situation in America up in conversations themselves.

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u/HistorianNew8030 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

Canadians talk about America like it was their former absolute best and trusted friend who developed a meth addiction and has created a meth lab in their house.

Due to their unstable behaviour they have stabbed them in the back with essentially what feels like murder threats (annexation threats). We feel betrayed at the highest of levels. We feel anger. We our mourning our friendship. And mostly we worry about what happens if the meth lab we live above explodes.

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u/Original-Rush139 Jul 20 '25

As an American, I love how seriously Canada is taking our turn toward autocracy. It’s crazy how many people down here just go on about their day and aren’t putting any pressure on the government. Canada, on the other hand, is voting with her wallet and it is making a difference. The dummies down here won’t notice for a long time so please keep it up. This is a marathon and not a sprint. 

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u/ingannare_finnito Jul 21 '25

I feel the same way, although I felt sick when I saw this poll. Seeing the US as the top threat among Canadians is devastating. I am so ashamed of my country. I've never idolized the US military or believed that our government used that military out of altruism. I wasn't that naive, but I was proud of the American role in NATO. The US absolutely benefits from NATO membership - despite MAGA lies - but our military and the 'nuclear umbrella' also provided real, concrete protection to many allied nations. I never saw NATO as a burden and I have no problem with small, potentially vulnerable nations joining NATO for protection. Protecting allies is something to be proud of.

I don't understand how so many Americans believe the opposite is true. They love Trump's bullying. I'd really like to know what Americans are supposed to take pride in now. Trump's presidency offers nothing but bullying, selfishness, and cruelty. I wish more nations, allied or not, would stand up to Trump. Its upsetting when leaders of other nations cooperate with Trump and make 'deals' with him. Just to be clear, I know Trump is an American problem and all Americans are responsible for the state of our nation. I have no right to ask anyone to help us out of this mess. That said, I certainly appreciate other nations that refuse to give in to Trump's bullying.

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u/Unfurl_Fast Jul 20 '25

I vote you write the eulogy. Great analogy!

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u/Necessary-Shame-2732 Jul 20 '25

We are both furious and disgusted with the states. Treacherous fuckers. 🍁

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u/washburn100 Jul 20 '25

Here's what is completely mind boggling. The US elected Trump......TWICE!!!

Trump may be done in 3 years, but what stupidity will they do next!

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u/kleenkong Jul 20 '25

Trump wasn't ever gonna leave in 2020, if Jan 6th was successful. Trump nor his administration ain't planning on leaving in 2028. We just need to wake up to the fact that they are insidious, and need a societal antibiotic to get rid of them.

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u/T0pl355 Jul 20 '25

As an American, so are we.

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u/terran_cell MURICA Jul 20 '25

Before you blame the people, know that the vote is skewed to elect Republicans for president. More of us oppose the orange bastard than support him.

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u/GoobleStink Jul 26 '25

He won the popular vote in 2024 so that last sentence really isn't true

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u/EdenSilver113 Jul 20 '25

I’m an American and I’m both furious and disgusted with the states. Every educated person I know feels the same. It’s not against the law in America for politicians to lie and they regularly do that.

What every thinking person in the WORLD needs to do right now is be watchful of powerful corporations usurping power from governments. If they could do this to America they will try to do it to you all too. Remain vigilant. Call out politicians who sell out their power.

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u/Allerleriauh Jul 20 '25

Oh no the imperialist superpower who's attempted to annex my country twice is threatening to annex my country again who could've seen this coming. JFC

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u/Sendrubbytums Jul 20 '25

Everyone I know talks about avoiding going to the US at all costs. My family cancelled a US trip -- people who have done tournaments or conferences for years in the US are skipping them.

Many of us are boycotting as much as we can from the US.

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u/BigJSunshine Jul 20 '25

As an American- thank you. We need every single repercussion for the hellscape we are creating. Every please boycott the US.

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u/SometimesaGirl- United Kingdom Jul 20 '25

I am boycotting where possible and practicable.
However, I'm not a totally heartless bastard. I do hope that the USA can correct course at some point and work its way to becoming a valuable ally once more.
But the damage being done will scar America for many years. Just a few days ago I saw a report saying that part of your agriculture industry were collapsing. And it's much more than the unavailability of farm workers due to ICE.
For instance the report said that the US is loosing the vast majority of it's corn export markets. A combination of traceability, non-gm standards, tariffs and just general political unpredictability are causing this. Canada and Brazil are winning out over the US.
The problem is that these supply contracts usually last at least 5 years. And getting a buyer to switch back to a US producer even with a new government wont happen unless the US offers something. The business lost from the US is likely to remain lost forever. Poor people are going to get a heck of a lot poorer. And I cant see that ending well.

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u/betadonkey Jul 20 '25

Pure disinformation.

American corn exports are literally at record highs.

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u/Sendrubbytums Jul 20 '25

Source?

Here's mine

Between April 2025 and May 2025, the exports of Corn from United States decreased by $147M (-8.15%), from $1.81B to $1.66B. During the same period, imports decreased by $20.8M (-52%), from $40M to $19.2M

https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/corn/reporter/usa

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u/betadonkey Jul 21 '25

July 2025

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/usda-rundown-record-us-corn-exports-us-biofuel-boom-2025-07-13/

Massive corn exports despite collapse of China trade. Huge increases to countries like Vietnam and South Korea on the back of recent trade agreements that opened markets to US agriculture.

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u/Ronaldo_Frumpalini Jul 20 '25

I want to say please don't it's the crap places you wouldn't visit anyhow that are doing this and they, and polls confirm this, want a civil war. Except Trump will harass you even in the blue states.

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u/Ronaldo_Frumpalini Jul 20 '25

Trump thinks he's a loser if he fails to take everything he can get. He's got no friends, cheated on every wife, cheats on his taxes, cheats his business partners, cheats his investors, he MUST betray everything to not be weak and a loser. America is the one indispensable nation, he's going to exploit that until he runs us and everyone who trusts and likes us into the ground. He can only get along with the enemies of America because only they want a strictly transactional relationship.

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u/Banh_mi Jul 20 '25

Imagine feeling disgusted about, say...New Zealand. That's what it's like. Will never trust them again.

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u/exeJDR Canada Jul 20 '25

I would describe it here as one of the biggest topics of conversation for the last few months. Obviously, we're under a lot of economic pressure rn by the US, and trying to renegotiate an agreement temu trump signed himself in 2017. 

Anecdotally,  I went to a BBQ recently,  where someone made the mistake of bringing US watermelon, and they were instantly shamed by everyone and it kicked off an hour long conversation about U.S. politics - among a group of people that I was shocked to find even voted tbh. 

I think the anger has subsided a bit here and has been replaced with eye-rolls. But I feel the 'buy Canadian' movement has pretty much become culturally ingrained for the majority - except in Alberta and maybe Saskatchewan.

Eta - the travel numbers speak volumes as well.

No one I know is crossing the border unless they have to. 

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u/ZaniZ1 Jul 20 '25

I (Canadian) was at an air show at Delta near Vancouver yesterday. Since they were showing off American and Canadian planes, the show began with both the American national anthem followed up by the Canadian national anthem.

Both anthems were lead on the mic and speakers by some kids with some admittedly good voices. The American one was lead by an 11 year old and the Canadian one led by a 12 year old.

When the American anthem was sung, practically no one sang along, and after it was done, it was followed up by a pretty uncomfortable silence. I genuinely felt sorry for the poor kid who was singing.

Yet, when the Canadian anthem was sung, I would say more than half of the crowd sang along, with massive cheering at the end.

Mind you, this was a pretty damn crowded airshow. Google says this airshow (the Boundry Bay Airshow) typically attracts 15k people annually, and it damn near felt like I was in Shibuya crossing in that airfield.

Whether it’s just because most Canadians don’t know how to sing the American Anthem or because of the tensions between us, I don’t know. But it certainly felt like a sign of fracturing relations when the American anthem was effectively met with crickets and coughing.

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u/No-Goose-5672 Jul 20 '25

Watch the crowd next time an American NHL team plays a Canadian one in Canada. It’ll be tough to spot someone singing along with the American national anthem. I would say most Canadians just don’t know the American anthem.

That being said, the dead silence after the American anthem feels new to me. I feel like we used to clap and cheer politely for our neighbours.

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u/PeanutSauce1441 Jul 24 '25

Most Canadians absolutely know the American anthem. Just combining the people who like(d) the USA and the people who watch hockey, you already have half the population

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u/ClusterMakeLove Jul 22 '25

I mean, even if we're not sore towards individual Americans, their anthem is literally about the last time they invaded us. It's tough to see the poetry and patriotism or whatever.

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u/UncleFred- Jul 20 '25

Privately, some of us now feel that if the United States descends into a full autocracy it will only be a matter of time before we are attacked. It's not a question of if, but when.

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u/OldNewbie616 Jul 20 '25

Why don’t you do something about the want-to-be dictator now instead of waiting? You would be greeted as liberators…

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u/TCsnowdream Jul 20 '25

We’re fucking disgusted with America.

You don’t threaten our sovereignty and our borders, then laugh it off like it’s a joke.

It is a betrayal of unbelievable proportions. And they voted this motherfucker in twice. I know people will come out and say “well I didn’t vote over him…”

Well, that doesn’t make the situation any fucking better.

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u/Wasd123wasd456 Jul 21 '25

Canadians always shit on America. Just to different degrees.

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u/Powrs1ave Jul 21 '25

But no 3rd option? Rekon Russia should be on the list as wel, but funny USA more a threat!

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u/PeanutSauce1441 Jul 24 '25

Because Russia is never so brazen with us

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u/trolleyproblems Jul 23 '25

I'm proud of my fellow Australians for understanding that our biggest trading partner (1) and the country who we've desperately tried to hitch our wagon to, despite the unhinged shitstain leading it who tells us we have to pay for nuclear subs they're going to confiscate from us (2) are our biggest threats.

We're very rarely this clear-eyed as a nation.

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u/ItsLegion13 Jul 20 '25

Can confirm as a Canadian we don’t really have much in the way of trust for the current administration.

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

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u/nowheyjose1982 Jul 20 '25

Or trust in Americans anymore.

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u/Charlie9261 Jul 20 '25

Not just the current administration. The whole country. A nation that can elect and put up with this doesn't deserve any trust.

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u/DanTheLegoMan Jul 20 '25

And 2nd for most others

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u/scrandis Jul 20 '25

Well, if this map was accurate, then the #1 threat to America would be America

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u/StupidWillKillUs Jul 21 '25

American here: can confirm!

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u/Charlie9261 Jul 20 '25

It certainly is.

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u/billbo24 Jul 20 '25

Yeah that one hurts to see.  There’s just no reason there should be any tension between us and Canada.  So dumb to antagonize them 

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u/LMurch13 Jul 20 '25

That's really sad that Canadians are saying the US. I get it. I grew up in New England and Canada was always a fun road trip. I love Canada. Fuck this Trump Administration.

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u/ChiefsHat Jul 20 '25

All because an Orange Man opened his mouth.

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u/Steve_78_OH Jul 20 '25

I'm from the US, and I'm pretty shocked people think China is our biggest threat, and not Russia or our own government.

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u/LimonSoleil Jul 21 '25

Once our closest ally, now we're afraid to cross the border. Very sad.

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u/cardew-vascular Jul 21 '25

The way the US talks about Canada and how we're a threat to their national security it's interesting that we're not on our threat list 😜

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u/e1liott Jul 20 '25

I don’t actually expect the jump to be too extreme. This appears to consider economic threat, and Canada has been concerned about becoming dominated by the US economy for decades.

Of course, now military action is a concern too which probably led to a moderate jump on this ranking

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u/Vandergrif Canada Jul 20 '25

Can confirm...

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u/Angry_Canadian88 Jul 20 '25

As a Canadian not for me it didn't, I have always recognized that America's power to crush our economy in the blink of an eye. It would be near impossible and a giant waste of time for any country but america to invade us.

Russia trying to invade Canada is laughable at this point, they couldn't even take control of a similarly sized population of Ukraine which is directly beside them and not an entire pacific ocean between them.

As for China I'm sure they have the man power to do so but as it stands their last invasion of a foreign country was 50 years ago and that was still a country directly next to China, again not an entire ocean in the way.

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u/castroski7 Jul 20 '25

Near last? The US has always been a major risk

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u/Aeveras Jul 20 '25

Canadian here, I can confirm this sentiment personally. Went from "eh even if the US is kind of a dick and dumb sometimes they'll have our back" to "oh fuck, oh fuck" in record time.

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

It always should’ve been first. USA could control all of Canada’s trade routes if they decided too. They control the land mass of their west, have a strong enough navy to totally impeded trading from the east and completely control the their southern border.

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u/teb_art Jul 20 '25

I doubt the US will attempt an invasion of Canada. 1) Europe would be pissed off 2) most of our soldiers would refuse 3) the ones who are willing would be taking orders from incompetent clowns.

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u/BWW87 United States of America Jul 20 '25

I would hope not. For Canada the US is the only real threat to it. Don't forget this poll assumes that there is a threat. It doesn't say is the US an actual threat it just says who are the biggest threats. And who else would Canada say? Maybe China? But like who is saying Russia? And only because of Ukraine I'd imagine.

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u/Chaiboiii Canada Jul 20 '25

Canadian here. 100%. They walk and talk like Russians now. Telling us we are not a real country, don't deserve to be independent. Fuck them. I have an unhealthy amount of disdain for Americans now unfortunately.

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u/Robo-X Jul 20 '25

In all Western countries not only Canada.

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u/RobertoSantaClara Brazil Jul 21 '25

Well then again, fear of or rejection of the US has been a recurring thing in Canada since before Canada was even a proper country (1867), it's literally one of the defining keystones that made Anglo-Canadian society come into existence at all since the English speaking population was founded by a wave of American Loyalist refugees leaving the US so they could remain Britons after 1783

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u/Marysman780 Jul 22 '25

The US has always been the only threat to Canada. If only because it deters all other threats. But we’ve always known they could squash us, Trump saying it out loud is beyond the pall.

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u/LeftLiner Jul 20 '25

Here in Sweden Russia would still have been #1 but probably China and US would have switched. Russia is the arch enemy (after Denmark, of course) after all.

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u/Jacina Jul 20 '25

Well, its talking about threats, so,whole being an arch enemy, a threat they are not

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u/LeftLiner Jul 20 '25

True, for Russia it's both, though.

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u/zxy35 Jul 20 '25

So not a fan of the Øresund link? :-). /s

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u/TheProuDog Turkey Jul 20 '25

Do Swedes really see Denmark as an enemy or is it just a joke? I think you guys are getting along pretty well

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u/WickdWitchoftheBitch Jul 20 '25

It's a joke. We're like siblings; we hate eachother until someone outside the family (the Nordics) starts picking on them, and then we'd die for them.

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u/whoji Jul 21 '25

As a Chinese, I hope one day China, Japan, and Korea can be just like that.

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u/Agatus-Daemon Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

They are very friendly, but i think denmark and sweden have fought as many battles against eachother as france and england or turkey and russia throughout the centuries - if not more

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u/WeberTheAuthor Jul 20 '25

lol. “After Denmark…”

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u/Not_Cleaver United States of America Jul 20 '25

Probably Russia down the line for most of Europe, except Greece and Turkey; nationalists fearing their historic enemies (like Poland fearing Germany); and US popping up on occasion and with memories of Trump/past US foreign policy decisions.

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u/Azerate2016 Poland Jul 20 '25

Russia has always been the most hated and feared country in Poland. Maybe slightly less so before the invasion on Ukraine, but Poland has never been in the "we forgot what Russia did" camp. Our country has been uniquely destroyed by both sides during WW2 and many years after the end of WW2 our country has been under Russia's influence which a lot of people see as an even greater issue than the war time crimes. People may dislike Germany, but they don't really see it as an actual threat.

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u/herbieLmao Germany Jul 20 '25

Is there any way that can change? Wait another 80 years?

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u/PiotrekDG Earth Jul 20 '25

Russia would need to go through post-Nazi Germany-like transformation.

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u/Vaernil West Pomerania (Poland) -> Nordland (Norge) Jul 20 '25

We know it's never going to happen.

Russia would need to be broken into 20 republics and balkanize.

I don't think the distrust will dissapear for the next 100 years. They just keep resetting our "maybe they're fine" cooldown every 20 years.

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u/PiotrekDG Earth Jul 20 '25

I mean... it took Germany 80 years to fall from an occupier to 5%, so it is not impossible. But as you say, it would take some very radical steps in the first place.

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u/malcolmrey Polandball Jul 20 '25

Not really 80 years. I remember 30 years ago there was really no scare of Germany.

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u/PiotrekDG Earth Jul 20 '25

Any chance we have a similar survey from that period?

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u/malcolmrey Polandball Jul 20 '25

That would be lovely, but nothing concrete pops up.

But it seems like people were in fact still scared of Germany:

"30 lat temu, w 1995 roku, Polska obawiała się przede wszystkim Rosji. Poza tym, istniała niepewność co do przyszłości Niemiec i ich ewentualnych roszczeń wobec zachodnich ziem Polski. Dużo mówiono też o obawach związanych z niekontrolowanym napływem imigrantów z byłego ZSRR."

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

I think they were asking another question.

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u/herbieLmao Germany Jul 20 '25

I am talking about germany

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u/Matte3D Jul 20 '25

It must collapse from within 🤝

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

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u/franaval Jul 20 '25

Germans would have finally started to learn something more than just surface-level information about Poland, its history, culture, and last but not least experience during the war. Most experts agree that the level of interest and understanding between Poland and Germany is asymmetrical. This process has already started and paradoxically it was the reparations debate that accelerated it.

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u/Cartoons_and_cereals Jul 20 '25

While I agree that you need to understand cultural differences to truly enable long lasting peace... I don't agree with the premise that you need to have a deep historical understanding to enable this.

I don't think the average German person can give you historical details for any of our neighbours that go beyond rough historical outlines and the parts where our people interacted with theirs (the good and the horrible). So this is not something unique to German Polish relations.

It's an impossible standard to set, next we also need to have a deep historical understanding of France, Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, Czech Republic... all neighbouring countries that also suffered immensely under Nazi Germany.

Where does that leave time in the curriculum to study our own 1000 years of history? At what point have we reached back far enough in history to realize that most important to understanding the modern geopolitics is having a firm grasp of what happened the last 20-30 years?

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u/SanderStrugg Jul 20 '25

I mean the average German me included knows a lot about France and Austria, but not that much about other neighbours.

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u/Cartoons_and_cereals Jul 20 '25

More than Polish history? Sure, maybe. But is that because it's taught in school, or because people that grew up in the BRD are culturally closer to Western European countries because there wasn't an iron curtain separating them?

Polish and German people are actually quite intermingled, the only reason this isn't more visible in society is because of the circumstances how we got separated, and then the fact that for 45 years there was a nigh impenetrable border.

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u/LiteratureFew5805 Poland Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

It's an impossible standard to set, next we also need to have a deep historical understanding of France, Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, Czech Republic... all neighbouring countries that also suffered immensely under Nazi Germany.

If you are comparing the actions of Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe with its occupation of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, it makes me wonder what Germans are actually taught about World War II. What happened in Poland is still a partially open wound and it is difficult to establish normal/healthy relations if this part of history is not truly understood and acknowledged.

Weren’t you taught that Nazi Germany killed millions (possibly over 10 million) Slavs through genocidal policies driven by the belief that Slavic people were Untermenschen - inferior beings undeserving human treatment? For Poland, some of the greatest tragedies, outside of millions killed and enslaved, include the systematic extermination of our intellectual elites, the destruction of our capital, and the wholesale obliteration and theft of our historical heritage.

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u/t_baozi Jul 20 '25

The reparations debate is a big reason why Poland hasn't been taken serious on the European stage, and people ignored warnings about Russia.

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u/franaval Jul 20 '25

I'm not sure if that's true. Rather the government that opened that debate had 0 credibility and was already treated by most as an unreasonable partner. The reparations initiative, although ill-fated from the get-go and managed poorly, resonated with the vast majority of Polish citizens, including those who did not support the former government, as well as those who didn't believe that there were any legal means to receive them. Understanding this phenomenon would be crucial for Germans to move forward. I feel that many G. Simply doesn't understand where the resentment comes from. For the Polish, saying that the French or Dutch suffered equally to them is simply preposterous. Also, I agree with the colleague above. Germans know way more about their Western neighbors than those from the East Łaba. There's a German/French history textbook that has been approved and promoted by both countries. In case of Poland/Germany, such text textbook is used by 2-3 schools maybe.

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u/t_baozi Jul 20 '25

I think it's hardly surprising that Germans are more oriented towards France, given the two countries literally share the same origin with the Empire of Charlemagne, the last four hundred years of history revolved around the Franco-German rivalry, and since WW2 France has become Germany's closest partner, while Poland was cut off by the Iron Curtain.

Poland's reparation talks and the constant anti-Germanyism are taken as what they are: cheap populism and evidence Poland can't be fully taken serious on the diplomatic stage. I think the EU is doing a lot for Polish-German relations and a lot of Germans go to Poland for tourism and learn about the country; nowadays Polish people have a very good reputation in Germany too. But politically, Poland is hardly taken serious.

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u/franaval Jul 20 '25

Yeah, the last decade didn't do Poland any favors, no doubt. Plus I'm not surprised that Germans paid more attention to France, not only due to shared history but also because cooperation between the two was required for keeping Europe in peace. Still, a colleague asked what should be done to not only maintain but possibly further improve the pol/ger relationship, so I answered. Moreover, the fact that Germany strongly invested in reconciliation with the French, doesn't mean that they cannot do the same with Poland. But it would have to start with learning more about it and showing society that it's worthy of the work.

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u/mm22jj Jul 20 '25

It's not really 80, more like 60-30. In 70' there were still signs that Germany consider western Poland as "Germany under administration of Poland"

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u/Vaernil West Pomerania (Poland) -> Nordland (Norge) Jul 20 '25

Is there any way that can change? Wait another 80 years?

If there is anything left in 80 years, sure. Maybe if we went to war on the same side for once that sentiment would change quicker. Especially if it was against a historic enemy like Russia.

I'm from Szczecin, and lived like 2km from the border, so I have some exposure to Germany.

For myself, I really dislike the language and have physical reaction to hearing it, but other than that, you guys are fine in my book.

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u/6gv5 Earth Jul 20 '25

And potentially go through one or two wars, then collective memory around will actually want to forget.

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u/Giant_Undertow Jul 20 '25

I worked in a mine, a few of the guys were polish.... They were incredibly strong, and. Hard working... They also would give a warm welcome when you would see them for the day, while also being reserved in there personality (like not loud or braggadocios) .

All of them represented your country well (this was in the states)

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u/Vaernil West Pomerania (Poland) -> Nordland (Norge) Jul 20 '25

while also being reserved in there personality (like not loud or braggadocios) .

I'm of course generalizing, but we don't do small talk or smile to strangers, so we may seem cold to outsiders.

It's not that, it's just that a word "friend" actually means something and you don't call that just anyone.

But if a Pole befriends you, you got a ride or die kinda guy.

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u/Ertyio687 Jul 20 '25

Honestly I think it's stupid how we think USSR's colonialism was worse than nazi occupation, it makes no sense, nazis tried do delete us from existence, and russians at least gave us housing and a boost to industry with many new cities settled

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u/Capybarasaregreat Rīga (Latvia) Jul 20 '25

Uniquely destroyed?

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u/EnthusiasmWilling605 Jul 20 '25

Yeah, I'm assuming Germany would have stolen a few percentage points from Russia but even before 2022 it would have won by much over 50%

Not to mention the piece of key interest in Polish news in Jan 22 was 'has the Russian army amassed on the Ukrainian border attacked yet?'. Early 2021 would probably have less dramatic results and even then not by much.

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u/New_Parking9991 Jul 20 '25

For greece it has nothing to do with nationalism,thats ridiculous.

Turkey's interests energy/geopolical wise come into direct conflict with ours.

Turkey has a casus belli,and their leader of 20 years routinely make threats.They consider alot of greek islands in the Aegean under occupation among other things.

Also turkey has no problem ''intervening'' outside their borders,we know if the circumstances are right same thing will happen to us.

About the US prolly people remember how they supported the military junta back in the day and the fact they would have no problem dropping any support if their interests are not longer served by helping us.

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

[deleted]

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u/THELEADERPLAYER Jul 21 '25

Babe wake up new fearmongering just dropped.

Jokes aside, talking positively about Israel in any way is absolutely ridiculous.

But, in typical fashion, people upvote this and downvote the sane person replying to you. Shame.

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u/Iterative_Ackermann Jul 20 '25

Turkey has no claim for any of the Greek islands (or mainland for that matter.) The problem is you want to extend your control. And you also say tpu are a peaceful Europeam nation. And when we say we won't let you, we are the warmongering nation in your eyes. I find that ridiculous. If you want to go to war over some international waters because of an international "law" which is not binding for us, stop being a wuss and take responsibility. Say that we are willing to go to war to extend our control over Aegean sea. If you are not willing to go to war over that, then you just need to do nothing. Is that so hard? Erdogan has nothing to do with this policy. He is probably the most coward Turkish leader you will ever see. We Turks will not let our country be locked put of our western sea. It has nothing to do with him. We will never give you control without a fight and I find it unlikely that you can win that fight if it comes to it.

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u/New_Parking9991 Jul 20 '25

Your reply is dishonest.

Turkey has no claim for any of the Greek islands 

Thats an easy lie anyone can google and understand the situation.

The problem is you want to extend your control. 

Not sure what control means,its called EEZ,we follow the international law.Which also states that if dispute with neighboring countries differences must be solved diplomatically.And our position in recent years is simple,come talk if we cant solve it diplomatically we go to international court.

Turkey has taken initiative (turkish-libyan agreement),tried to claim some parts around cyprus(people can google about the situation few years back easily),and has numerous times prevented with military threat alot of projects in the aegean.

And thats just the tip of the iceberg.

Not only that Turkey refuses to go to international court just for EEZ,but insist on putting other matters into discussion(sovereignty of certain islands,minority issues and lausane treaty etc..),which they know no sane country would agree to.

 If you are not willing to go to war over that, then you just need to do nothing. Is that so hard? 

I do not inderstand the intent of your reply,so basically Greece just has to do nothing accept all turkish actions(no island has EEZ no matter how big or small) accept that you will control the aegean and then no war,so libyan-turkey agreement is on,turkey can make research and start drilling just outside of Crete etc........see it is that simple Greece.

Your reply sound like a mafia message lol.

Lets put another way so people can understand : imagine Germany and poland have energy/economic disputes and AFD wins election in Germany.Then they proceed to make open threats to Poland.Poland invites germany to international court about the economic disputes and Germany opens the discussion by doubting sovereignty of polish cities near the border and also wanting to change treaties signed decades ago.....

Thats the situation we face.

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u/Iterative_Ackermann Jul 21 '25

I just wanted to add something because you need to understand that Erdogan has nothing to do with this: about 30 years ago, our prime minister was a woman, who was an alleged atheist, America educated, not at all nationalist, and a professor of economy. And we almost went to war over an uninhabitable piece of rock 10 acres in total area. Only US intervention stopped a hot war. Can you imagine Trump stopping a war today, if some similar incident happen? No, he will work for the side who give him a bigger ego boost and a bribe. You Greeks must take your head out of your ass, stop citing international agreements which Turkey is not a part as if they are binding for Turkey, and realize that Aegean access is no joke to Turkish *republic*.

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u/Iterative_Ackermann Jul 20 '25

Not at all. The Aegean issue does not have a long history. It is an invented issue about 45 years ago. There was no problem until Greece signed an agreement with so e other countries, and started to claim it applies to Turkey too. International law does not work like that. In a very real sense there is NO international law, just frameworks for agreements between countries. Forcing an agreement down a country violates sovereignty rights, which is the most "law" like thing in international law.

There will be no discussion about Greece extending to 12 miles because no resolution is possible given the current geographical reality. We would not be able navigate our own beaches, so nobody will pretend a diplomatic resolution other than status quo is possible. Eez around Libya Cyprus are not really issues Turkey will go war. You may br right that Erdogan is instrumental in that. And I don't see it going a decade into future. Aegean access definitely is something we will die for.

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u/brumbarosso Jul 20 '25

Europe saw how russia went into Georgia and saw the military build up

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u/FatFaceRikky Jul 20 '25

Turkey getting the shivers because of Israel is hilarious

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u/malcolmrey Polandball Jul 20 '25

(like Poland fearing Germany);

This is indicative of radical politics. Gullible people are getting purposely scared that our neighbours will attack us.

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u/YatesScoresinthebath Jul 20 '25

Not for the UK. Would pretty much always be near the top since ww2 and was very hot in 2022

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u/Vannnnah Germany Jul 20 '25

nobody in Germany, except some freaks, would have named the US a threat. They would not have been on this list at all. This is the result of your biggest business partner and ally stabbing you in the back while simultaneously going fully fascist.

List would have been Russia, China and probably Iran, Afghanistan or some other state in that region

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

[deleted]

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u/Vannnnah Germany Jul 21 '25

they do exist, but in insignificant small numbers that they would not make a big enough impact in a survey like that.

Your great aunt sounds like one of the people who bought into Russia's philosophy. The majority of people in the GDR didn't and just played along because they had no other choice.

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u/TalkersCZ Jul 20 '25

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/15/views-of-the-us-have-worsened-while-opinions-of-china-have-improved-in-many-surveyed-countries/

You can see it here.

When Trump was president last time, "favourability" for US was around 40% (similar to China) across high-income countries. With Biden, it went to 60%. Now with Trump dropped below 40%.

Confidence in Trump was around 15-27% abroad. Biden 75-51 (cognitive decline would be probably main point why it was dropping...?).

Clearly its connected to Trump and MAGA a lot.

_____
Here is 2019 threats:
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/12/05/u-s-is-seen-as-a-top-ally-in-many-countries-but-others-view-it-as-a-threat/

Canada had US at 20%. Now 59%.

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u/Hakunin_Fallout Ireland Jul 20 '25

Or in 2023. Or in 2024. Complete delusion towards Russia being a threat. There are still millions of people, including here on Reddit, thinking Russia is not a threat at all.

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u/Semedo14 Jul 20 '25

In the Netherlands its the same probably. Anti-America sentiment has been present since the war in Iraq. Unless you are clueless and think US is dangerous because of/since orange man.

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u/highlandviper Jul 20 '25

Mostly pink and blue I’d imagine… with hardly any green.

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u/Gremlin325 Jul 20 '25

Exactly my question

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u/RomanticFaceTech United Kingdom Jul 20 '25

I wonder what that poll looked like in 2022?

I can't find any reporting from the Spring 2022 Global Attitudes Survey on this specific greatest threat question, perhaps it wasn't asked at the time. However, the survey did contain other questions which show how different the attitude to the US was back then.

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/06/22/international-attitudes-toward-the-u-s-nato-and-russia-in-a-time-of-crisis/

In general, the opinion of the US in 2022 was positive and they were increasingly considered a reliable partner:

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/06/22/international-public-opinion-of-the-u-s-remains-positive/

Russia by contrast had dropped record lows:

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/06/22/ratings-for-russia-drop-to-record-lows/

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u/ConsistentSteak4915 Jul 20 '25

I saw someone posted a 2019 version the other day and had hoped this would pop up… it’s vastly different.

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

Even going ten or twenty years back, US has been first or second for most countries.

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u/koshgeo Jul 20 '25

Here's the source for OP's data: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/07/08/who-do-people-think-is-their-countrys-greatest-threat/

It gives some good background and analysis. This link has some comparison to historical data: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/15/views-of-the-us-have-worsened-while-opinions-of-china-have-improved-in-many-surveyed-countries/. It doesn't directly answer your question with the same sort of table, but some of the data is in there.

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u/mighty3mperor Jul 20 '25

This was recently posted with data from 2013:

https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/s/rundiMs27H

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u/_stranger_with_candy Jul 20 '25

Here are all of the Epstein Files that have either been leaked or released.

https://joshwho.net/EpsteinList/gov.uscourts.nysd.447706.1320.0-combined.pdf (verified court documents)

https://joshwho.net/EpsteinList/black-book-unredacted.pdf (verified pre-Bondi) Trump is on page 85, or pdf pg. 80

Trump’s name is circled. The circled individuals are the ones involved in the trafficking ring according to the person who originally released the book. These people would be “The List “ Here is the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsiKUXrlcac

Here's the flight logs https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21165424-epstein-flight-logs-released-in-usa-vs-maxwell/

—————————other Epstein Information

https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/Johnson_TrumpEpstein_Calif_Lawsuit.pdf here’s a court doc of Epstein and Trump raping a 13 yr old together.

Some people think this claim is a hoax. Here is Katies testimony on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnib-OORRRo

Jeffrey Epstein’s Ex Says He Boasted About Being a Mossad Agent https://share.google/jLMGahKlCzfV1RHZqJeffrey Epstein and Israel both have the same lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Dershowitz says he's building 'legal dream team' to defend Israel in court and on international stage | The Times of Israel https://share.google/Lb9hDOduBWG4Elpid

—————————other Trump information:

Here's trump admitting to peeping on 14-15 year old girls at around 1:40 on the Howard Stern Radio Show: https://youtu.be/iFaQL_kv_QY

Trump's promise to his daughter: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-ivanka-trump-dating-promise_n_57ee98cbe4b024a52d2ead02 “I have a deal with her. She’s 17 and doing great ― Ivanka. She made me promise, swear to her that I would never date a girl younger than her,” Trump said. “So as she grows older, the field is getting very limited.”

Adding the court affidavit from Katie, as well: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000158-267d-dda3-afd8-b67d3bc00000

Never forget Katie Johnson.

Trump's modeling agency was probably part of Jeffreys pipeline: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration/

Do your part and spread them around like a meme sharing them and saving them helps too! Please copy and paste this elsewhere

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u/Amadon29 Jul 20 '25

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2007/07/24/chapter-3-perceived-threats-and-allies/

The last time they did this was in 2007.

For Canada, 70% saw the US as their closest ally and 20% saw it as their greatest threat. Their bigger perceived threats were Iran, Iraq, and China.

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u/imonlyamonk Jul 20 '25

I don't know, but why not link to the entire article/poll rather than one chart out of the whole thing.

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/07/08/people-in-many-countries-consider-the-u-s-an-important-ally-others-see-it-as-a-top-threat/

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u/Cynicastic Jul 20 '25

Because I'm not OP?

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u/imonlyamonk Jul 20 '25

I just responded to you because you're the top upvoted post in a propaganda thread where no one seems to even bother looking up the source. You probably didn't either.

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u/PrincessKatiKat Jul 20 '25

Willing to bet the U.S was still all over the chart, even with their allies; just not in first place and not with such high percentages.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

I wonder what it will look like after a few more years of Trumpism. Look at Canada cuh..

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u/rikarleite Jul 24 '25

Likely all NK and China, some Iran.

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