Who, specifically, did Yanagida mean by "half the world"?


In episode 4, Yanagida tells Itami that the suits back in Nagata want to know
whether the Special Region is worth turning half the world against Japan.

Who, specifically, consitutes "half the world" here? As of this point in the
anime, we haven't been told much about the political situation surrounding the
Gate. Is there a particular bloc of nations that opposes Japan's activity in
the Special Region? Or is this more of a figurative "lots of people will be
angry with us if we colonize the Special Region" sort of thing?




[![Things Yanagida
says](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8lrqtm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8lrqt.jpg)

In the manga, in chapter 7, Yanagida mentions:

> Is there something here that's worth turning America, China, and Russia...
> half of the world into our enemies?

It's [been
mentioned](http://www.li.suu.edu/library/circulation/Stathis/HaasAgeOfNonpolarityFall11.pdf)
that (emphasis mine):

> The major powers, China, the European Union (EU), India, Japan, Russia, and
> the United States, contain just over **_half_ the world's people** and
> account for 75 percent of global GDP and 80 percent of global defense
> spending.

So he's likely to mean most of developed countries that are world powers. Most
notably America, China, and Russia.

