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Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Russia and Public Opinion

Even after the annexation of Crimea, a new Pew survey finds that most Americans prefer that the U.S. not involve itself too much in Ukraine: Considering what has happened in the last ten days, and how unanimous Western political leaders and media outlets have been in their denunciation of Russian actions, it is remarkable that […]
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Even after the annexation of Crimea, a new Pew survey finds that most Americans prefer that the U.S. not involve itself too much in Ukraine:

Considering what has happened in the last ten days, and how unanimous Western political leaders and media outlets have been in their denunciation of Russian actions, it is remarkable that a slim majority of Americans still wants the U.S. not to get involved in the crisis. Even more remarkable is the fact that large numbers of those that view Russia as an “adversary” or “serious problem” don’t favor U.S. involvement, either. More Americans now consider Russia to be an adversary or a problem, but there are not very many that think that the U.S. is obliged to do very much to oppose Russia. The public’s appetite for confrontation with Russia is virtually non-existent, which should remind politicians in Washington that there is not much support for punitive measures or willingness to bear the costs that may go with them.

Last fall, there was less of a partisan difference in views of Russia, but now there is a much wider gap with many more Republicans saying that Russia is an adversary:

The interesting thing about these figures is that most respondents still don’t believe that Russia is an adversary of the U.S. Even among Republicans, only 42% subscribe to this view after the annexation of Crimea, and a significant part of that is presumably driven by partisanship and opportunistic arguments from movement conservative pundits. Despite the best efforts of politicians and pundits to sell the public on greater hostility to Russia, for the most part Americans aren’t buying it.

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