Ten years ago, the perception of Russia was a very positive one in this country. About 67% of Americans viewed Russia as a friendly country (an ally) and that climbed to 73% in 2006. But it has been falling since then, and now the number of Americans viewing Russia as a friendly ally has fallen to only 44% (while 50% now see them as an unfriendly enemy).The same is true of Americans attitude toward Russia's leader, Valdimir Putin. Back in 2003, 38% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Putin, while only 28% had an unfavorable opinion of him (with 34% unsure of what to think about him). But 10 years later, a majority of Americans (about 54%) viewed Putin unfavorably, while only 19% view him favorably (and 26% still don't know what to think).
Looking at the above numbers, which show a growing suspicion of both Putin and Russia, one might think that Americans would not think much of Putin's plan to avert a military action in Syria by the United States (a plan which would have Syria give up control of their chemical weapons to avoid the attacks). But that would not be true.
While Americans are no longer enamored by Putin, they overwhelmingly support his plan to avert a military action by the United States on Syria. About 72% of Americans (nearly 3 out of 4) say they approve of Putin's plan, while only 18% disapprove (and 10% are unsure). We don't know if the plan will work or not, but it's obvious that the American public supports giving it a try.
I think this shows that the public is growing very weary of endless war, and has no stomach for intervening in yet another country using our military -- even though the government promises the military strikes would be limited and only for a short duration. The people don't see that the U.S. has any real national interests in the Syrian conflict, since Syria poses no danger to the United States and it is very unclear as to whether the U.S. has any friends on either side of that civil war.
The charts above were made from information contained in a recent Gallup Poll -- conducted on September 15th and 16th of a nationwide sample of 1,010 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.
