A survey commissioned by the "Financial Times" and conducted in six countries after Russia's invasion of Georgia shows a striking "contrast between Europeans' rising fears of Russia and their unwillingness to support any action to meet the challenge posed by Moscow militarily."
We've got our own rundown of those and other views -- both inside and outside Russia.
But the "FT"/Harris poll is worth a look; it doesn't do a lot to boost trans-Atlantic morale. Here are the most salient points:
In "old Europe," Russia has emerged as the top perceived threat after a year behind the likes of China, the United States, Iran and Iraq. (Americans still rank Iran and China higher.) The findings suggest that anxiety over Russian aggression is not translating into support for higher military budgets, however, if social spending must be reduced as a result.
More disturbingly, in Germany, Spain, and Italy, more people oppose coming to the defense of NATO's Baltic members in the event of a theoretical Russian attack than support it. Nearly one in three people across the other three countries polled would "strongly or somewhat oppose" it. Article 5, be damned.
There's also a sharp trans-Atlantic divide over which U.S. presidential candidate is better-equipped to protect Europe's interests with respect to Russia. Let's see if you can guess who favors whom.
-- Andy Heil
We've got our own rundown of those and other views -- both inside and outside Russia.
But the "FT"/Harris poll is worth a look; it doesn't do a lot to boost trans-Atlantic morale. Here are the most salient points:
In "old Europe," Russia has emerged as the top perceived threat after a year behind the likes of China, the United States, Iran and Iraq. (Americans still rank Iran and China higher.) The findings suggest that anxiety over Russian aggression is not translating into support for higher military budgets, however, if social spending must be reduced as a result.
More disturbingly, in Germany, Spain, and Italy, more people oppose coming to the defense of NATO's Baltic members in the event of a theoretical Russian attack than support it. Nearly one in three people across the other three countries polled would "strongly or somewhat oppose" it. Article 5, be damned.
There's also a sharp trans-Atlantic divide over which U.S. presidential candidate is better-equipped to protect Europe's interests with respect to Russia. Let's see if you can guess who favors whom.
-- Andy Heil