A majority of top US foreign policy experts say the world is a more dangerous place for Americans today than just six months ago, thanks largely to the war in Iraq and a failing US war on terrorism, a new survey shows.

A majority of the 108 experts polled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress also said they would expect another Sept. 11-scale attack within the next decade, despite substantial improvements among US security, law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The findings appear as a Terrorism Index in the September/October issue of Foreign Policy magazine, which is published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The survey was conducted on May 23 to June 26.

Following are the top countries named by experts as posing major challenges to US national security policy.

* Which country is most likely to become the next al Qaeda stronghold?

Pakistan - 35 percent; Iraq 22 percent; Somalia  11 percent; Sudan 8 percent; Afghanistan 7 percent

* Which countries are most likely to transfer nuclear technology to terrorists in the next three to five years?

Pakistan 74 percent; North Korea 42 percent; Russia 38 percent; Iran 31 percent; United States 5 percent (Respondents were invited to name more than one country)

* Choose the ally that least serves America's national security interests.

Russia 34 percent; Pakistan 22 percent; Saudi Arabia 17 percent; Israel 14 percent; Mexico 5 percent; Egypt 5 percent - Reuters