February 24, 2014
Michael Winter, USA
China, not Iran, (click here) is now America's No. 1 enemy, according to a new Gallup Poll.
The Chinese hold that distinction primarily because Americans have spread their negative views across several perceived threats — Iran (16%), North Korea (16%), Russia (9%), Iraq (7%), Afghanistan (5%) and Syria (3%) — while holding relatively constant in their mistrust of China (20%) over the past few years.
The poll, reported Thursday, also found that a slight majority (52%) sees China's growing economic power as a "critical threat" to "the vital interests" of the United States in the next decade, while 46% cite such a threat from the country's military....
But, look at those percentages. The perception of threat as an enemy of the USA is really diverse.
China ranks high not necessarily due to superior military power and/or space potential, but, because of the adversity the USA has experienced economically.
Let me state that again. China is viewed as an enemy because of the USA's experience economically. That view was dearly held in majority by independent voters, not exclusively Democrat or Republican.
September 11, 2013
On Wednesday's "Morning on the Mall" (click here) on WMAL 105.9 FM in Washington, DC, Kentucky Republicans Sen. Rand Paul argued the best means for the United States to influence rogue nations like Iran and North Korea would be to flex it's economic muscle against those nations' trading partners, especially China and Russia.
Paul noted the United States doesn't have trade relations with either North Korea or Iran, so it would have to be done so through intermediaries like Russia and China.
"I think the first thing we have to do is understand that the answer to a lot of the vexing problems of the Middle East, as well as North Korea, I think do involve engagement and this means engaging with some of the people who have been the trading partners of both Iran and North Korea," Paul said. "You know, we don't have any trade with them, so it's not like we influence either nation through withholding trade. I have been in favor of sanctions, and I think they have helped to a certain degree. But I think ultimately we need to convince people like Russia and China that it is in their self-interest to trade with America, that we are a much bigger self-interest for them than either North Korea or Iran is."...
Michael Winter, USA
China, not Iran, (click here) is now America's No. 1 enemy, according to a new Gallup Poll.
The Chinese hold that distinction primarily because Americans have spread their negative views across several perceived threats — Iran (16%), North Korea (16%), Russia (9%), Iraq (7%), Afghanistan (5%) and Syria (3%) — while holding relatively constant in their mistrust of China (20%) over the past few years.
The poll, reported Thursday, also found that a slight majority (52%) sees China's growing economic power as a "critical threat" to "the vital interests" of the United States in the next decade, while 46% cite such a threat from the country's military....
But, look at those percentages. The perception of threat as an enemy of the USA is really diverse.
China ranks high not necessarily due to superior military power and/or space potential, but, because of the adversity the USA has experienced economically.
Let me state that again. China is viewed as an enemy because of the USA's experience economically. That view was dearly held in majority by independent voters, not exclusively Democrat or Republican.
September 11, 2013
On Wednesday's "Morning on the Mall" (click here) on WMAL 105.9 FM in Washington, DC, Kentucky Republicans Sen. Rand Paul argued the best means for the United States to influence rogue nations like Iran and North Korea would be to flex it's economic muscle against those nations' trading partners, especially China and Russia.
Paul noted the United States doesn't have trade relations with either North Korea or Iran, so it would have to be done so through intermediaries like Russia and China.
"I think the first thing we have to do is understand that the answer to a lot of the vexing problems of the Middle East, as well as North Korea, I think do involve engagement and this means engaging with some of the people who have been the trading partners of both Iran and North Korea," Paul said. "You know, we don't have any trade with them, so it's not like we influence either nation through withholding trade. I have been in favor of sanctions, and I think they have helped to a certain degree. But I think ultimately we need to convince people like Russia and China that it is in their self-interest to trade with America, that we are a much bigger self-interest for them than either North Korea or Iran is."...
