Isn't it a bit unfair for the US State Department to put Russia on the same level as literal African countries when it comes to travel advisories? Seems pretty po-litical to me.
travel.state.gov
travel.state.gov
Isn't it a bit unfair for the US State Department to put Russia on the same level as literal African countries when it...
Nathaniel Moore
David Sanders
Yes, sadly even the most official and legalist things in this world amount to childish insults and greed. Everyone is a snake and seemingly permanent and natural fixtures of societies are naught more than tentative illusions.
Camden Reed
Not really. The State Department tends to exaggerate the danger of every country in their travel advisories. I mean Germany and France are level 2, and Russia is definitely not as safe as them.
I’ve been to Honduras and Haiti before, it’s not like any of those countries are too dangerous to visit, you just need to be smart and stick to the tourist-friendly areas. Russia is no different.
Luis Price
PFFF whats the difference?
99% of americans never leave North America
Eli Rogers
I can see it being on a similar level to turkey
Parker Gomez
*gets poisoned*
Charles Bailey
No. It's okay. You're american, don't come here.
Jaxon Lopez
If it was purely political, China (who’s level 2) would have also been put in the level 3 category. It’s the fact that Russia, along with Turkey, have recently underwent rather extreme and unpredictable decisions with the annexation of Crimea for Russia, and in Turkey, Erdogan consolidating power and Turkey’s military having tried to coup him.
Illegally annexing territory and breaking major international agreements is cause for the state department to say they can’t guarantee that this country’s government won’t make rash decisions that could potentially endanger you. If the state department rated the US on these lists, it would probably put its own country in the level 3 category. It’s completely fair that Russia is rated where they are.
James Morris
The State Department aren't perfect and 100% objective, like everyone else they have biases for and against countries depending on how pro/anti-Western they are. That's why they'll ignore all the very real crime and other dangers in a place like Colombia, because it's a US ally.
Charles Stewart
Chile is level 1
Ian Miller
>If it was purely political, China (who’s level 2) would have also been put in the level 3 category
The page about China was pretty tame, it just had the usual warnings everyone already knows about avoiding any politically provocative actions like wearing a T-shirt with the Tibet flag on it.
Jack Diaz
There is probably a chance that Russians will arrest some random American tourists and accuse them of being spies.
Samuel Cruz
China doesn't belong in category 3.
Also Turkey has always had terrorist attacks targeted on tourists and Americans are always the jackpot in those cases.
Michael Taylor
>uae: level 1
>uk: level 2
Luis Rodriguez
>Angola: level 1
Jonathan Phillips
It's probably because there are not enough American diplomatic staff in Russia (because of counter-sanctions) to help American citizens and businesses.
Both India and China are ranked as "safer" than Russia. Probably because all of the top 20 cities in both countries have American embassies/consulates to help American citizens and businesses.
Leo Clark
I know people who work for intelligence agencies here and they're advised to avoid travelling to countries like Russia and China since they may get mistaken for spies. It's mainly for political reasons rather than safety reasons.
Cameron Wood
Columbia’s a bad example. Columbia has since cleaned up a lot of the drug crime, and it’s become an increasingly popular place for Americans to retire.
The real bias is putting Saudi Arabia at 2 because they’re an ally. They are in an ongoing war with Yemen, assissinated a journalist, and have absolutely insane religious laws. They should be a 3 at the very least, if not a 4 even.
Lucas Lee
lol
Andrew Sullivan
Colombia is by no means a safe place and our government still advises you not to leave the cities except for when you're in a guided tour.
Thomas Diaz
Crown Prince whathisface is more liberal on social issues than his predecessors, but he's also shown himself to be less tolerant of political dissent.
Jonathan Morgan
You shouldn't have too much faith in them. A Dutch girl, most likely a prostitute, got locked up in Qatar after getting raped and reporting it to the police because she had sex outside of marriage.
Nicholas Sanchez
It’s not El Salvador, Honduras, Niceragua bad though. It’s at worst a slightly more dangerous Mexico, the single most popular vacation destination for Americans, and both are level 2. Do you think Colombia should be lower?
Luis Smith
Literally nothing wrong with that. UAE is safe as fuck and doesn’t have Paki rape gangs.
All the western yuro countries with “diversity” get level 2’d. The state department gave Greece a 1, and Belgium a 2 lel.
Carter Hall
kek, three countries up and three countries down from Russia need specialized vaccines just to stay safe when you visit. Burgers got a chip on their shoulder
Cooper Rodriguez
>Sweden not a 2
Get your shit together state department
Samuel Barnes
If you take the whole list in to consideration, Russia’s placement is totallly reasonable.
Russia shot down a commercial jet with direct order from its government in recent history. That last point is more than enough reason for the state department to say Russia is not safe for Americans to visit. At the very minimum, a country needs to be able to guarantee they have enough civility to not shoot down commercial jets, it doesnt matter what beef they have with another country’s government.
Adrian Morales
I can't even imagine what an American can forget in Russia. Sex tourism? We have a miserable trade with the United States.