According to a recently released poll of U.S. opinion on Russia, Americans have taken on an increasingly negative perspective toward the former Soviet Union in terms of several different and important aspects.

The Gallup poll, unveiled on Monday, shows that disagreements in U.S.-Russia foreign policy recently have not only had a negative impact on U.S.-Russia relations, but on American feelings toward Russia. This is demonstrated through the poll in three main ways.

These three variables include an increasing view that Russia's military is a significant threat to the United States, overall ratings of Russia by Americans as the worst since the Cold War, and the growing likelihood by Americans to name Russia as the United States' greatest enemy over any other country.

When asked by pollsters what one country anywhere in the world respondents consider to be the United States' greatest enemy, the numbers show that Russia -- at 18 percent -- has beaten out notorious North Korea -- at 15 percent -- for the first time.

Only two years ago, a scant 2 percent of the American public viewed Russia as public enemy No. 1 but that number made a significant jump in 2015, particularly in light of the Ukraine situation.

In terms of Russia's military power, pollsters examined American perceptions on possible threats to the vital interests of the United States in the next 10 years. The reaction to this inquiry was that a significant 49 percent of Americans have become increasingly likely to view Russia's military power as a dangerous threat to the U.S.

This number has increased notably since 2014 when 32 percent of the American population held this view and even more so when we look back to 2004 when just 18 percent held this opinion.

On a related note, 41 percent of those polled say they currently view Russia's military power as an important threat, though not critical, which is down from 49 percent in 2014. Only 7 percent of Americans do not consider Russia a threat, which is down from 17 percent in 2014.

According to the poll, the basic views of Americans toward Russia are reportedly the worst that that Gallup has measured in its 26-year trend. Currently, only 24 percent of respondents say that their views on Russia could be described as favorable, while 70 percent harbor unfavorable views. Favorable ratings of Russia have tumbled 10 points in each of the past two years, whereas three years ago the American opinion of Russia was more positive than negative.

The implications of this poll show that foreign policy disagreements between the former Soviet Union and the United States have significantly impacted the American perspective on that country.

However, results from the survey reveal that these feelings are not a one-way street. According to a Gallup World Poll of Russians that was conducted in 2014, 4 percent of those polled said that they approve of U.S. leadership, while an 82 percent majority reportedly disapproves.

Gallup pollsters note that because the American viewpoint of Russia has changed a lot over the years and has been quite positive at times in the past, opinions are certainly liable to change. If Russian and American policy interests were able to work together toward more common ground, American views of Russia could have a positive change and recover quite quickly.

This Gallup poll was conducted between Feb. 8-11, 2015. Participants included a random sample of 837 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The nationwide survey was conducted via cell phone and landlines, with numbers selected using random-digit dial methods. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

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