Foreign Policy and the United States in Russian Public Opinion

Abstract

Surveys conducted during the Russia’s tumultuous election season of 2011–2012 yield insight into Russians’ complex views of their government’s foreign policies and the United States. Foreign policy is an area where the Russian government receives unusually high marks from the population, but voters tend not to choose candidates on the basis of their foreign policy views. Suspicions toward the United States are widespread but neither universal nor uniform: There is support for cooperation with the US on some issues. Antipathy toward America is not a key source of support for Putin, but it does correlate with support for Russia’s Syria policy. These results may reflect deeper tendencies in Russian public opinion than do polls conducted during the massive anti-American propaganda campaign underway since the start of the Ukraine crisis. If so, it is doubtful that public anti-American sentiment either drives or constrains Russia’s foreign policies.