… Gallup routinely asks Americans to name what they think is the country’s greatest enemy and finds Russia and China essentially tied as Americans’ highest-ranking concerns, while Iran is a close third.
This dispersion reflects the post-Cold War reality that the United States still lacks a clear rival. At the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the U.S. preeminent, there was concern in the foreign policy community that, without a common enemy left, America’s ascendency could result in a loss of a sense of purpose for its grand strategy.
What has evolved in the 21st century is that America is facing not one, but two, ambitious rivals in Russia and China. Both challenge the U.S. in different ways, as they work to grow their chosen spheres of influence. CONT.
V. Lance Tarrance, Gallup