Europe Continues To See US As Greatest Threat To Global Stability (Harris)

[kpete]

Plurality of Public in Five Major European Countries Continues to See the U.S., Over Five Other Countries, as the Greatest Threat to Global Stability

Only in Italy are people more likely to see Iran as a bigger threat than U.S.

A new Harris Poll of almost 10,000 people in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain finds that a plurality continues to believe that the United States is more of a threat to global stability than Iran, North Korea, Iraq, China or Russia.

The online survey was conducted among adults aged 16 and over in France (2,050), Germany (2,019), Great Britain (1,936), Italy (2,011) and Spain (1,946) between August 2 and 11, 2006 by Harris Interactive®.

An average of 30 percent of adults in these five countries see the United States as the biggest threat of six countries listed, followed by Iran (23%), China (15%), Iraq (14%), North Korea (8%) and Russia (2%). The 30 percent who believe that the United States is the biggest threat to global stability compares with 36 percent who held this opinion in June and 30 percent in July of this year.

In this new survey, 36 percent of the British see the United States as the greatest threat, followed by Iran at 19 percent. In France, the numbers are 28 percent for the United States, and 24 percent for Iran. In Spain, a full 44 percent see the United States as the greatest threat, with only 15 percent seeing Iran as the greatest threat. In Germany, 24 percent see both the United States and Iran as the greatest threat. Only in Italy do more people see Iran (31%) as the greatest threat to global stability, followed by the United States (21%).

more at:
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=695

[The2ndWheel]

1. Alright!

Sooooooooooooooo, what happens now? Did I hear nothing?

[ixion]

2. I am so sad to be paying for this dubious honor via my tax dollars

yet somehow this very salient statistic seems lost on most US citizens. They drive around in their SUVs pumping crap into the atmosphere and thinking that, as a country, we can do no wrong.

It's crazy. :crazy:

[patricia92243]

3. Are we the only country to ever drop an atomic bomb on humans? I always

thought so, but my history knowledge is sketchy.

If so - and now we are also known as a nation that will invade other countries whenever we want to - you can understand why other countries fear us. We used to be respected, now we are feared.

Can it EVER be undone?

[Selatius]

5. Well, Machiavelli said that it's better to be feared than loved.

"From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved."

-- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Ch. 17

Given that several neocons came out of the Leo Strauss school of thinking, I would think Machiavelli has some weight with these people, but I doubt you'd see them publicly proclaiming their support of such brutal ideas.

[Selatius]

4. Bush's response to this poll:

"What are you Euro-trash fuckers going to do about it? Nothing. Just like you did nothing before Hitler attacked."