Why are Americans not afraid of a war with Russia?

Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time in the United States, and it was mostly communication with Republican supporters. It seems to me that Ukraine has a wrong perception of the attitude of Republicans to the war in Ukraine and to the way the people of the United States perceive this war in general. In short, I have not met any Republicans who do not support us in this war. At the same time, I have not seen a Republican who is ready to fight in Europe. My conclusions are as follows:

1. Americans do not believe that Russia is a threat to the United States.

I don't think there is any support for the thesis that if Ukraine falls, Russia will move on. Americans do not believe in this scenario.

2. The main threat that Americans see is China. That is why they want to prepare for a war with China rather than burn money in the war in Ukraine.

3. Republicans are not against supporting Ukraine, they are in favor of supporting the Americans. Therefore, they believe that the unwillingness of Democrats to make concessions on border control with Mexico is a decision of Democrats who choose not to support Ukraine rather than restrict migration and lose their voters.

4. The Democrats are not ready to make concessions to the Republicans on the border because their electorate is, among other things, immigrants from the South, so they believe that this decision will hurt their chances in the elections more than a defeat in Ukraine (which has not been in the news at all for the last six months).

Off-topic, a few years ago I was on the border with Guatemala, and from Guatemala to the US, there are hundreds of kilometers of migrants walking to the US. Republicans simply do not want more unqualified migrants voting for Democrats.

5. Republicans do not criticize Biden for supporting Ukraine, they believe that he is not acting effectively. That he burns money without any visible result. Therefore, they want to end the war. Either by providing enough resources to win or by starting negotiations.

6. Americans do not think it is fair that they spend their money on war, while many European countries, for whom Russia should be the primary threat, do not. They do not understand why Russia threatens them more than Hungary.

7. The Americans believe that we have had a lot of time, and still have time, to build basic institutions inside the country, to carry out fundamental reforms. They don't see this yet and say: if you don't want to do it, why should the Americans care then? To me, this is the main thesis and the main claim.

I understand that a number of statements sound uncomfortable. At the same time, I am confident that we still have time to regroup and change both our communication with society in the United States and, most importantly, to start changes in Ukraine.

Source

About the author. Yaroslav Prygara, CEO and co-founder of NOFFICE.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.