Top American Fears Going Into 2016

A recent survey published in December suggests that there is a long list of global concerns that Americans fear, going into 2016. 

The top three, however, are: An escalation in the Syrian war, further terror attacks on US soil and nuclear war with North Korea.

These findings emanated from a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) poll of 1,000 members conducted in the US. The poll aimed to capture the top 30 concerns for 2016. 

Those taking part were asked to rank issues from high, or Tier 1 (meaning likely to trigger US military involvement or threaten strategic resources) to low, or Tier 3 (meaning limited strategic importance).

The #1 choice of the highly visible and much-reported-on Syrian crisis, together with the related ISIS threat was quite unsurprising considering how effective ISIS has been in spreading terror across the West.

The results, carried in the Independent.co.uk, show that Americans are overwhelmingly worried about events in the Middle East and North Africa - with seven of the top 11 issues relating to those regions.

The report further elaborates that in a year that has also seen numerous gun massacres across America, US nationals second biggest fear is further mass casualty terror attacks in the country. The third biggest concern is that of cyber-attacks on critical military, government and civilian infrastructure.

North Koreas Kim Jong-uns belligerent nuclear-threat stance towards the U.S came in fourth, while refugee crisis-induced political instability within the European Union came in fifth. The two bloody terrorist attacks in Paris did nothing to help reduce negative perceptions toward immigrating refugees.

From seventh to 11th were the following: Increased tensions between Israel and Palestine, political violence in Turkey, instability in Egypt, violence in Afghanistan and the fracturing of Iraq.

A recent Financial Times (FT) report suggests that this pessimism and discomfort with trends touching on global peace and stability is felt worldwide by governments, media and citizens.

FTS Gideon Rachman explains that this kind of globalized anxiety is unusual. Countries such as Japan, the U.S and China lost their stride economically, militarily, politically and socially over the past few decades.

Other countries have experienced their own woes: Greece continues to totter on the brink of economic collapse and was almost expelled from the Eurozone. Germany is struggling with its refugee crisis. Britain is threatening to leave the EU and French voters are turning to the far-right in ever greater numbers.

The slowing Chinese economy is leading to greater financial instability, as the upheavals in the Shanghai stock exchange over the summer and as recently as this week revealed.

The domino effect of turbulence in the Chinese economy has also slowed other countries, as well. Brazil, for instance, piggy-backed the China commodities boom while she could, but the Brazilian economy reportedly 'sank beneath the waves, contracting by 4.5 per cent'.

A few countries such as India are, nonetheless, experiencing rosier economic outlooks. Rachman suggests that the U.S should be one of them. The numbers should match the mood: the country is in the sixth year of an economic expansion. Unemployment is about 5 percent. 

The US dominates the internet economy. And yet the public mood is sour.

Part of the reason for that is there is also a widespread fear that another financial or economic crisis might be building due to "years of highly unorthodox monetary policy".

Rachman observes that on the political and security front, the implosion of the Middle East continues. Outside powers have proved unable to restore order to the region and are finding that disorder is spreading to Africa and Europe, in the form of refugees and jihadi terrorism.

Global forecasts on climate change, the economy, security, health  virtually all sectors of life are impacted and your average Joe Blow in virtually every country has much reason for valid concern for 2016 and beyond.

Such social and economic anxieties have political side effects, wrote Rachman. These naturally fuel a demand for "strong" leaders, such as Mr. Xi, Mr. Trump or Vladimir Putin of Russia who, however hypocritically, promise to tackle the corrupt elites, fight for the little guy and stand up for the nation.

Henri Spaak, Secretary General of NATO from 1957-1961 is quoted as having said: "What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the alliances of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he god or devil, we will receive him."

One gets the feeling that the world is about ready for just that.