Never mind Russia, North Korea and Iran, a majority of Canadian citizens now see the neighboring United States as the “greatest threat” to their country.
Fifty-nine percent of Canadians view the U.S. as a major risk, according to a study published Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, as President Donald Trump continues to suggest that Canada should become the 51st American state.
Trump’s maverick foreign policy has included antagonizing Canadians, threatening tariffs on allied nations around the world (including Canada), bombing Iran and menacing the Arctic island of Greenland.
While more than half of Canadian respondents to the survey still consider the U.S. to be their most important ally, the poll — which surveyed 28,333 people in 25 nations around the world — provides a striking look at changing perceptions of America in the Trump era.
In Mexico, a frequent political target for Trump dating back to the early days of his first run for president in 2015, a whopping 68 percent of respondents consider the U.S. to be their primary threat.
Israel leads the list of the countries most in favor of the U.S, with 95 percent of its respondents pointing to the U.S. as its top ally, closely followed by South Korea on 89 percent and Japan on 78 percent.
In Europe, with belligerent Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin looming on the eastern flank, Russia is clearly viewed as the primary threat. Poles (81 percent) and Swedes (77 percent) are particularly wary of Moscow, which has been waging all-out war on neighboring Ukraine for years. The survey also shows that European supporters of right-wing parties are less likely to see Russia as a threat.
Around the world, perceptions change. In Japan, at 53 percent of respondents, and Australia, at 52 percent, citizens are most likely to consider Xi Jinping’s China to be the chiefly concerning threat.
The Pew Research Center is an U.S.-based nonprofit think tank.
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