MOSCOW (Sputnik) — US citizens consider Russia and North Korea as the country's greatest enemies, a poll conducted by the Gallup International public opinion research center showed.
"North Korea dwarfs all other countries when Gallup asks Americans whom they consider to be the United States' greatest enemy. Fifty-one percent now name the East Asian nation… Russian intervention in the 2016 election is likely a significant factor behind the 19% of Americans citing Russia as the greatest U.S. enemy — the largest percentage for Russia in Gallup's trend," Gallup International said in a press release on Monday.
China and Iran ranked third and fourth in the list of US enemies with 11 and 7 percent of respondents respectively viewing the two countries as enemies.
The survey was conducted among 1,044 adult US citizens aged over 18 across the territory of the United States via telephone interviews from February 1 through 10.
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Historically, Russia has been near the lower end of mentions on the list, yet in the past few years, it has become more noticeable.
The Barack Obama administration had increasingly tense dealings with Russia after Vladimir Putin's election in 2012.
After the Trump's win, allegations of Russian alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election angered many Americans. North Korea, Iran and China have consistently ranked high on the list of US enemies. While Iran and North Korea are both military threats to the US, China has presented primarily an economic threat.
