| Islamic extremist groups like Al-Queda | ISIS | Iran nuclear program | North Korea nuclear program | Tensions between Russia and its neighbors | The rapid spread of infectious diseases | China's emergence as a world power | Global climate change | Israel-Palestine conflict | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A "major threat" to the US is ... | 71 | 67 | 59 | 57 | 53 | 52 | 48 | 48 | 48 |
% of Americans
Sources:
people-press.org
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Be afraid. Be very afraid. For many Americans, certain dangers pose major threats to the security of their nation. What keeps you up at night?
How about our own shortsighted foreign policy?
I think that a lot of what we are afraid of is a result of "our own shortsighted foreign policy." We enter regions, destabilize them, and then leave. Later at home we turn on the T.V. and wonder why everything is going so wrong. Adam. what do you specifically think is shortsighted about American foreign policy.
That's a good way of summarizing it. Our troubles began with the coup that toppled Mossadegh when the support of liberty gave way to greed. I don't understand how Eisenhower supported that in 1953, but remained firm against his allies on the Suez in 1956. Maybe he learned from his mistakes.
We are nothing if not inconsistent.
It is disappointing that often it seems that we don't learn from past mistakes. For example, it is probably a bad idea to sell weapons to what we would normally consider "rogue" nations or extra-national groups, even if it is convenient in the moment.