Thread: Cold War between US and Russia (again)?

I am amazed at this humans' feature to make judgments and estimation about the things which are so poorly pictured in their minds. Most of Americans and Russians have quite a poor idea what it is like to live in the country of their counterparts. I don't understand what they mean by

"The number of Americans who expressed a fair amount to a great deal of trust in Russia fell from 33 percent in 2012 to 24 percent this year, while more than two-thirds of Americans – 68 percent – said they have little if any trust in Russia, the poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found."

I understand what it means to have trust in God. But what is that supposed to mean "to have trust in Russia"? I think that media is using equivocating terms which simply mislead people. Plus Americans and Russians see one another through the lens of political movements of their leaders on the international arena. It's not the right way to get a genuine picture about each other I believe.

Originally Posted by shnuddy

I understand what it means to have trust in God. But what is that supposed to mean "to have trust in Russia"? I think that media is using equivocating terms which simply mislead people.

i see, i've opened the Pew poll in pdf. It's 'trust in Russia'. I thought it was a linguistic question. I understand it as "доверие к России".

Originally Posted by alexsms

i see, i've opened the Pew poll in pdf. It's 'trust in Russia'. I thought it was a linguistic question. I understand it as "доверие к России".

In this case "trust in God" is "доверие к Богу". But it wasn't the point I was trying to make. The point is that people may not trust their neighbors, spouses, parents, children and so on leaving aside such big things like foreign countries. It's not a surprise to know that the trust level is low. What surprises me is that the question of trust has been brought up as such. Trust implies expectations.

If I had a chance to ask those people who say that they don't have or have trust in Russia, I would ask them about their expectations and hopes set by them on Russia. And the key question is: How come you have some expectations about Russia as this is what defines trusting. We trust someone when our expectations are met. I don't think that USA or Russia (or any other country) tries to please someone else except oneself. So, why trust?

Originally Posted by shnuddy

In this case "trust in God" is "доверие к Богу". But it wasn't the point I was trying to make. The point is that people may not trust their neighbors, spouses, parents, children and so on leaving aside such big things like foreign countries. It's not a surprise to know that the trust level is low. What surprises me is that the question of trust has been brought up as such. Trust implies expectations.

If I had a chance to ask those people who say that they don't have or have trust in Russia, I would ask them about their expectations and hopes set by them on Russia. And the key question is: How come you have some expectations about Russia as this is what defines trusting. We trust someone when our expectations are met. I don't think that USA or Russia (or any other country) tries to please someone else except oneself. So, why trust?

Let's not make it so complicated, please. We do not want to bury this topic in semantics, do we?
I am upset about deteriorating relationship between our two countries. Nobody would benefit from it, except Syria perhaps.

Originally Posted by shnuddy

And the key question is: How come you have some expectations about Russia as this is what defines trusting. We trust someone when our expectations are met. I don't think that USA or Russia (or any other country) tries to please someone else except oneself. So, why trust?

There is an easy (I am not saying necessarily a true) answer.
If you believe it is in the best interest of any country to follow the USA lead, why wouldn't you trust them doing exactly that?

Speaking of Russians, I think it is safe to say that the USA acts more or less like most Russians expect it to.

Originally Posted by E-learner

There is an easy (I am not saying necessarily a true) answer.
If you believe it is in the best interest of any country to follow the USA lead, why wouldn't you trust them doing exactly that?
Speaking of Russians, I think it is safe to say that the USA acts more or less like most Russians expect it to.

I believe every country has its own interests. The notion of "USA lead" needs elaboration as on its own it can mean too many things to mention. I was talking about positive expectations which trust is built on. The expectations you mentioned build the opposite.