After Election Hysteria, Americans See Threats Everywhere, Polls Show

Americans See Several 'Major Threats' as Trump Takes Power

No election comes and goes without a good deal of scaremongering, but the intensity and number of things Americans were told to deeply fear during the 2016 elections were such a terrifying collection, that polls are showing Americans still scared witless in early 2017.

A new poll from Pew identified no less than six distinct “major threats” which were recognized as such by a majority of the American public, and indeed among the “threats” they polled could not come up with a single issue that wasn’t considered at least something of a threat by at least 80% of Americans.

The “threats” vary wildly, from old standbys like ISIS and North Korea’s nuclear program still reliably near the top, while relatively ill-defined threats like “cyberattacks” have surged up the list, and even just generic fear of Russia and China managed to sweep in large figures.

A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that in the case of Russia, fear of the nation has surged mightily amid its prominent position in the election campaign, with Russia a much bigger concern for America than it was in 2015, and a worrying number viewing Russia as “an imminent threat.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.