According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans still view China as the biggest threat to the country. Russia came in second, and Iran third.
However, the survey coordinators have pointed out that the number of people who fear China and Russia has decreased since 2023. The poll showed that while 50% feared China last year, only 41% think the same way today.
The same thing happened with Russia. Naturally, Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has increased skepticism with 32% of respondents saying Russia was a significant threat this past year. But again, that number decreased to 26% this year. These numbers are at least partly influenced by how much coverage they get in the news, and how much people are paying attention to any developments.
At the same time, hesitancy about Iran increased from 2% to 9%.
People who thought the United States was the enemy increased from 1% to 5%. Gallup said that the 5% of Americans who think the U.S. is the biggest threat is the largest recorded number since 2001. Before this poll, only 2% of the country’s residents viewed America “as its own worst enemy.”
But the overwhelming majority across all political spectrum agrees that China is America’s top national security threat. Republicans, however, are still the leading group at 67%, while independents came in second at 40%. Democrats were the least likely to say that China is a threat. They put Russia as the top concern. The survey also showed that independents were most likely to say that the enemy was within the country.
At the same time, independents are also growing weary of Israel and Ukraine. Israel has lost 10 points, while Ukraine’s rating fell by 5 points in popularity.
On the flip side, when Americans were asked which country they viewed the most favorably, over 80% said Canada, Japan, and Great Britain. Germany, France, and Taiwan were the second most favorably viewed group.
Overall, the study concluded that while there is not much of a change in how people see China and Russia, there is a growing negative sentiment toward Iran, Israel, and Ukraine. It is yet to be seen how these feelings change once the war is over in these countries.