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5 comments
How many people in the US still think the US is an ally to our allies? (In the last year Our president has systematically and repeatedly alienated every country I’d think of as an ally)
1) This wasn't a poll of all Europeans, only of ten EU countries polled (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Estonia, Portugal, Hungary and Bulgaria).
2) Participants weren't asked if we were any ally, they were asked if we were "an ally - that shares our interests and values". Shared values have little to do with what an "ally" means in the common parlance.
3) Excluding the full context could give you a false idea of how they view us. The full results:
16% - An ally—that shares our interests and values
51% - A necessary partner—with which we must strategically cooperate
13% - Don't know or refuse to answer
12% - A rival—with which we need to compete
8% - An adversary—with which we are in conflict
4) The idea that Europeans don't see us as allies is belied by their answer to the question "At the current time, would you support or oppose developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent that does not rely on the US". Only 16% strongly supported it. So they don't "see us as an ally", but they're happy to rely on us as their strategic bulwark? Hmm.
5) In my mind, the only question that actually matters on this survey, w/ regards to the opinions of our European friends, was this one: "If your country was forced to choose between being a part of an American or a Chinese bloc of countries, which would you prefer it to end up in?" Sadly, European responses to that question were not provided! If anyone delves into the underlying data, I'd love to know the results for this question.
2) Participants weren't asked if we were any ally, they were asked if we were "an ally - that shares our interests and values". Shared values have little to do with what an "ally" means in the common parlance.
3) Excluding the full context could give you a false idea of how they view us. The full results:
16% - An ally—that shares our interests and values
51% - A necessary partner—with which we must strategically cooperate
13% - Don't know or refuse to answer
12% - A rival—with which we need to compete
8% - An adversary—with which we are in conflict
4) The idea that Europeans don't see us as allies is belied by their answer to the question "At the current time, would you support or oppose developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent that does not rely on the US". Only 16% strongly supported it. So they don't "see us as an ally", but they're happy to rely on us as their strategic bulwark? Hmm.
5) In my mind, the only question that actually matters on this survey, w/ regards to the opinions of our European friends, was this one: "If your country was forced to choose between being a part of an American or a Chinese bloc of countries, which would you prefer it to end up in?" Sadly, European responses to that question were not provided! If anyone delves into the underlying data, I'd love to know the results for this question.
Yeah, sorry. You can spin it any way you want. The fact is the glitter has rubbed off the American wagon, and Europeans are starting to see a pretty ugly underskirt. If you don't think bullying Greenland is a net negative, I've got a small banana republic to sell you.
The question isn't "Is bullying Greenland a net negative"... that's too obvious and empty to get clicks. The spin here is in taking a survey designed to produce a specific result, and then using it as some kind of anchor to express a feeling that may or may not have a basis in reality. Is Trump a terrible president? Yep. Is that leading to the death of the EU/US alliance? No, and this poll is a poor excuse for evidence of that.
Hell yeah, America!