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pjc50 2 hours ago

> Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Belarus, Cuba, China, Syria and North Korea.

Putting these all in the same list conflates very different situations.

    - Big actual threat with body count: Russia.
    - Russian proxies: Syria (very lethal, but mostly within Syria, not a "threat to the west", complicated by Daesh and AQ)
    - Nasty autocracy but stable cold war: NK
    - Autocracy, but largely minding their own business and with no real capability to threaten: Cuba, Venezuela
    - Major trading partner: China
> USA recognized the danger and started dismantling the problem piece by piece

Trump era has systematically downplayed the threat from Russia. And let's not forget how many members of Trump campaign staff were jailed due to Russian influence.