A new Gallup poll released yesterday finds significant negative changes in how Americans view Russia, and Russian president Vladimir Putin, including especially his war on gays. Of those Americans who are aware of the Russian president’s new laws essentially criminalizing homosexuality, a staggering 69 percent do not approve. Only 13 percent do.
Overall, for the first time in 15 years — a decade after the Soviet Union was dissolved — Americans have a negative view of Russia.
“More Americans view Russia as unfriendly or an enemy of the United States than as an ally or friendly nation for the first time in 15 years, marking a significant change from as recently as June of this year. A majority of Americans view Russian President Vladimir Putin unfavorably for the first time since he originally took office in 2000,” Gallup reports.
The poll “was conducted shortly after Russia and Putin helped broker a deal to rid Syria of chemical weapons, averting U.S. military action against Syria.”
Since 1999, Americans have considered Russia more of an ally or a friendly nation than an unfriendly nation or an enemy. As recently as June of this year, 52% of Americans considered Russia an ally or friendly; yet three months later, that number has dropped to 44%, with 50% believing Russia is now unfriendly or an enemy of American interests.
The more negative views of Russia come after a series of international events involving Russia, including not only the conflict in Syria, but also Russia’s granting former NSA contractor Edward Snowden temporary asylum, and its new restrictions on gay and lesbian rights. Additionally, President Putin published an op-ed in the New York Times last week, chastising American foreign policy and suggesting that U.S. President Barack Obama’s statement of American exceptionalism was “extremely dangerous.”
Image, top, via Memeographs