Naive, detached, disengaged, it’s something we can handle – let’s hope

President Barack Obama told Democratic donors that despite unrest in Ukraine and Iraq, the U.S. faces less of a threat than it did during the Cold War.

Speaking at a backyard barbecue today in Purchase, New York, Obama said the brutality of Islamic State extremists fighting in Iraq and Syria, as well as Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, have made Americans anxious about turmoil overseas.

The U.S. has confronted greater dangers and overcome them, including the stand-off with the former Soviet Union following World War II, he told about 250 supporters who paid as much as $15,000 per couple to attend.

“This is not something that’s comparable to the challenges we faced in the Cold War,” Obama said of the current crises. “This is something we can handle.”