Most Americans Satisfied With the U.S. Position in the World

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Today, Secretary of State Colin Powell will be further outlining the Bush administration's approach to foreign policy when he testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A recent Gallup poll shows that 67% of the public is satisfied with the United States' position in the world today, while only 30% are dissatisfied. The numbers are essentially unchanged from May 2000, when 65% were satisfied and 33% dissatisfied. Additionally, the vast majority of Americans (75%) think the United States is viewed favorably in the eyes of the world. There is great consensus on both of these points by gender, age, income, education, and even political partisanship.

Americans Initially Positive Toward Bush in the International Arena
Even though George W. Bush has little experience in the international arena and has, to date, focused his attention on domestic issues such as his budget and tax plan, Americans think that foreign leaders respect President Bush. According to the poll, 49% of Americans think other world leaders respect Bush, 38% think foreign leaders do not have much respect for Bush, and 13% have no opinion. Bush performs better on this measure than former President Clinton did during his final year in office, when only 44% of Americans thought Clinton was respected by foreign leaders while 51% felt he was not.

Additionally, the latest poll numbers show that 46% of Americans approve of the job George W. Bush is doing in handling foreign affairs, while only 21% disapprove. This poll was conducted before Bush's most significant international action to date, the recent air strikes against Iraq, which contributes to the fact that one in three Americans do not yet have an opinion on Bush's foreign policy expertise. The generally positive ratings of Bush in the foreign affairs department are related to two other findings in the poll. The first is the overall quite favorable opinion of the president. In this poll, 64% of Americans said that they had a favorable opinion of Bush, while 33% had an unfavorable view. The second related finding is a general feeling of confidence in the federal government to handle international matters. In the poll, 75% express either "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of confidence. This number is quite high historically but not unprecedented, as confidence in the federal government's ability to handle foreign matters exceeded 70% last year and also in 1972 and 1974. Generally, the public has much more confidence in the federal government's ability to handle international matters than in its ability to handle domestic matters. Currently, 63% of Americans say they have confidence in the federal government to handle domestic matters.

Public Thinks U.S. Should Take Major Role in Foreign Affairs
Part of Secretary Powell's new job of conducting foreign policy for the Bush administration will be to establish the United States' level of involvement in international affairs. Gallup's recent foreign policy survey finds that Americans think the United States should be a prominent player in the international arena but not necessarily the world's leader. Only 16% of the public thinks that the U.S. should take the leading role in world affairs, while 57% think the U.S. should take a major role. A small minority of the public prefers that the U.S. should have only a minor role (21%) or no role at all (4%) in solving international problems.

These results can be compared to Americans' views about the United Nations' role in solving international problems, which are very similar. Slightly more Americans think that the UN should take the leading role (19%) than think that the U.S. should take a leading role. However, fewer people say that the UN should take a major role (49%) in world affairs than say this of the United States. Combined, 68% of Americans think the UN should take a major or leading role in foreign affairs, while 73% say this about the United States. In all, it appears Americans favor a foreign policy approach that is not dominated by one country (i.e., the United States) or organization, but one in which the U.S. and UN are prominent participants.

Another question for the Bush foreign policy team to resolve is how much the U.S. should spend on foreign aid. Traditionally, Americans have been in favor of cutting the amount the government spends on foreign aid. In this poll, 53% say that the U.S. currently spends "too much" on foreign aid, while 32% think it spends the right amount. Only 9% of Americans think that the U.S. is currently spending "too little" on foreign aid. Opinions on this issue vary by education, with those at higher levels of education tending to be more supportive of foreign aid. Additionally, conservatives are more likely than are liberals or moderates to say that the U.S. is spending too much.

Public Sees Preventing Spread of Nuclear Weapons as Most Important Foreign Policy Goal
Gallup presented Americans with a list of several foreign policy goals and asked them to indicate how important they thought each was. A strong majority of Americans thought each goal was at least somewhat important, but two emerged as the most important goals for the U.S.--preventing the spread of nuclear weapons (identified as very important by 82% of the public) and securing adequate energy supplies (79%).

Further down the list, Americans identified defending our allies' security (62% say it is very important), maintaining superior military power worldwide (59%), and promoting and defending human rights in other countries (51%) as key goals. Though these goals are lower on the list among the general population, some Americans see them as quite important. Seventy percent of Republicans, for example, think it is very important to maintain superior military power, compared to only 58% of Democrats and 51% of Independents. Also, 59% of Democrats rate promoting and defending human rights in other countries as very important, while only 50% of Independents and 45% of Republicans express this view. By contrast, there is great consensus among Americans of all political persuasions as to the importance of controlling nuclear proliferation and finding adequate energy supplies.

The least important goals for the public are those that appear more altruistic in nature: helping to improve the standard of living in less developed nations (40%), protecting weaker nations against foreign aggression (39%), and building democracy in other countries (32%). Democrats are more likely than Independents or Republicans to see these goals as important, but even among Democrats less than a majority rate each goal as "very important."

FOREIGN POLICY GOAL SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,003 adults, 18 years and older, conducted February 1-4, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Turning back to George W. Bush,

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling -- [ROTATED]? How about …

A. The economy

B. Foreign affairs

Do you think leaders of other countries around the world have respect for George W. Bush, or do you think they don't have much respect for him?

On the whole, would you say that you are satisfied or dissatisfied with the position of the United States in the world today?

How much trust and confidence do you have in our federal government in Washington when it comes to handling [READ A] -- a great deal, a fair amount, not very much, or none at all? Next, how about when it comes to handling [READ B]?

A. Domestic Problems

B. International Problems

In general, how do you think the United States rates in the eyes of the world -- very favorably, somewhat favorably, somewhat unfavorably, or very unfavorably?

Next we would like you to think about the role the U.S. should play in trying to solve international problems. Do you think the U.S. should -- [ROTATED: take the leading role in world affairs, take a major role, but not the leading role, take a minor role, (or) take no role at all in world affairs]?

Turning to the issue of foreign aid, do you think the United States is now spending -- [ROTATED: too little on foreign aid, about the right amount, (or) too much on foreign aid]?

Now thinking more specifically, which of the following roles would you like to see the United Nations play in world affairs today -- should it play -- [ROTATED: a leading role where all countries are required to follow U.N. policies, a major role, where the U.N. establishes policies, but where individual countries still act separately when they disagree with the U.N., (or should it play) a minor role, with the U.N. serving mostly as a forum for communication between nations, but with no policy making role]?

Next, I'm going to read a list of possible foreign policy goals that the United States might have. For each one please say whether you think it should be a very important foreign policy goal of the United States, a somewhat important goal, not too important a goal, or not an important goal at all. How important a foreign policy goal should each of the following be. How about… [RANDOM ORDER]?

A. Maintaining superior military power worldwide

B. Defending our allies' security

C. Preventing the spread of nuclear weapons

D. Securing adequate supplies of energy

E. Building democracy in other countries

F. Protecting weaker nations against foreign aggression

G. Promoting and defending human rights in other countries

H. Helping to improve the standard of living of less developed nations