Is it dangerous to go to the USA as a Russian now?

As others have said, I see no reason to expect trouble.

I would like to expand upon something that has been mentioned by others:

Back in cold war era Russian tourists would be treated with some suspicion because the Russian government didn’t allow the average person to travel. Thus if you did encounter a Russian “tourist” there was a fair chance they were actually a spy. This is no longer a factor.

It is possible to encounter prejudice, racism, and xenophobia in the US, but these things are not as common as they used to be, or as harsh and overt. They would tend to be directed toward specific groups who have historically been oppressed in the US. The realistic concerns for travelers would mainly be:

1. A traveler of African descent might encounter racist reactions such as being followed in a department store by a security guard, or taxis not stopping for them.

2. A traveler who looks Latin American or who speaks Spanish might be harassed in areas near the Mexican border or encounter racist reactions such as an assumption that they are uneducated.

Although some areas of the US are ethnically homogeneous, in general it’s a nation of immigrants, and people are used to interacting with foreigners.

California is a huge state, and it has many different regions. The big cities are very cosmopolitan and have large populations of relatively recent immigrants. Areas like the very far north are rural, and people there may simply be curious about a Russian traveler because they’ve never met a Russian.

I doubt that anyone is going to blame an individual Russian citizen for Putin’s behavior, just as I would hope that nobody in other countries would assume that I was in favor of invading Iraq just because I’m an American.

America does have a legacy of anticommunism and Russophobia because of the Cold War, but most Americans realize that the Cold War is over and the USSR no longer exists. For example, I’m 49 and I have a collection of Fantastic Four comic books that date from the 1960’s, when I was a kid. The superheroes talk about the “reds” and how we have to beat them in the space race. My teenage kids read these stories and find that material funny and out of date; for them, it’s like something from a history book. Americans will probably not remember what happened in Ukraine by the time you visit California, since they don’t really care.

During the Cold War, Americans used to resent/fear Russians because the Soviet Union rivaled the United States militarily, and even economically early on. When the Soviet Union collapsed to the joy of the Russian people, Americans realized that Russians were merely prisoners of a repressive political system doomed to failure, who actually yearned for the superior Western way of life. The Cold War has been over for decades, and nobody but the most uncouth will hassle you or throw your ethnic heritage in your face. I live in California, and it’s wonderful. Come see what you’ve been missing and bring your tourist $$$$!

I live in Louisiana, in the heart of the south (ostensibly the heart of bigotry in the US), and I have two Russian friends. They have never had any problems dealing with other people beyond that of any other foreigner. Sometimes people will not be able to understand you because of your accent, but that is true of any foreign travel.

To be quite honest; most Americans aren’t paying enough attention to know what is going on in your part of the world. The ones who are are intelligent enough to know the difference between a government and its people.

In general, the US is a safe place to travel as long as you are sensible and careful, and this goes for anyone, even US natives. If you’re going to a big city like LA, there will be good and bad neighborhoods and a mix of friendly and unfriendly people, and a mix of open-minded and xenophobes and everything in between.

My main advice is to avoid making assumptions about what people will be familiar with or have opinions on. I agree with people who recommend avoiding politics in conversations with strangers, and I’d add to avoid talking about religion or money as well. These topics can be controversial or uncomfortable unless you know the person well-enough to be confident you won’t offend.

And this applies to people from anywhere. I haven’t noticed any specific anti-Russian sentiment among people I come in contact with. If you are open-minded and friendly, I think you will find that people will react in the same way.

I suppose it depends on the region you decide to visit. That said any metropolitan city (San Francisco, New York, D.C.) I guarantee will be fine. There are already a bunch of Russians. The rest of country will probably be fine as well. There is the possibility of running into someone with superb ignorance but I found that everywhere in my travels. Come, you’re welcome!

It’ll depend on where you visit. I wouldn’t think anyone would give you any problems. If you do have a bad experience, hopefully you know that we are not all that way. Hope things go well and good luck on your trip!

My girlfriend who is Russian did a J-1 last year. Nothing special happened, she had great time there. Most Americans don’t care whether you come from Russia or Peru. And if you don’t talk politics with people you’ll have no issue whatsoever(like everywhere). There was a lot of noise in the US media regarding Russia and Georgia when Russian troops invaded that country, but media noise is media noise, Americans did not turn crazy shooting Russian expats. do you care what “PRAVDA” says?

Americans are just people like just Russians, they are not the US government nor the US media. Good luck.

From a social standpoint, I wouldn’t expect it to be a problem unless you make it a problem. The USA is incredibly diverse; people end up here from all sorts of places for all kinds of reasons, including people from countries that are ostensibly ‘enemies’ of the US.

On top of that, as a Russian, you have the added advantage of not being visibly distinctive – it’s a lot easier to avoid the attention of bigots and morons as a white person not bound by a religious dress code.

From a political standpoint… Well, I’m not going to speculate. There has been some frightening saber rattling over the past few days – withdrawal of ambassadors and a Paralympic delegation, pulling out of the G8, etc. Pay attention to the travel advisories issued by your own countries state department/foreign ministry, as well as to those in your destination, if you’re concerned about factors like travel restrictions, passport refusal or other inconveniences.