RIA Novosti: More Than Half of Americans Fear Tensions With Russia – Survey

NEW YORK, August 29 (RIA Novosti) – More than half of Americans view growing tensions between Russia and its neighbors as a major threat to the United States, among a wide range of security fears that are revealed in a recent survey.

“As the public’s views of global threats have changed, so have opinions about America’s role in solving world problems. More continue to think the United States does too much to help solve world problems,” the researchers said.

A study, released by the Pew Research Center on Thursday found that 53 percent of Americans are fearful of the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, where more than 2,119 people have been killed in the four months of fighting.

Other perceived threats to the United States include Islamic extremist groups, such as al-Qaeda (71 percent), the Islamic State (67 percent), Iran’s controversial nuclear program (59 percent) and the rapid spread of Ebola and other infectious diseases (52 percent).

“The share saying the US does too little to address global problems has nearly doubled – from 17 percent to 31 percent – since last November, while the percentage saying it is doing too much has fallen from 51 percent to 39 percent,” Pew said.