admiralsnackbar
12-15-2009, 09:09 AM
GENERAL STANLEY McCHRYSTAL, America’s commander in Afghanistan, and Karl Eikenberry, its ambassador there, turned up on Capitol Hill this week to tell congressmen how satisfied they were with Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more American troops into the fray. But their enthusiasm is not widely shared. It is not just many of the Democrats in Congress who are troubled by their country’s entangling foreign wars. A poll of the foreign-policy attitudes held by Americans at large paints a bleak picture of an America that is no longer sure of its own pre-eminence and fast losing interest in causes such as promoting democracy or defending human rights in the rest of the world.
The survey, “America’s Place in the World”, is conducted every four years by the Pew Research Centre and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). It poses its questions not only to 2,000 members of the public but also to 642 members of the CFR, thus tracking both public opinion and the views of foreign-policy experts.
Its headline finding this time is that, for the first time in over 40 years of such polls, a plurality of the general public (49%) say the United States should “mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own.” Only 30% agreed with that statement in December 2002.
How things have changed since early September 2001, when al-Qaeda struck New York and Washington, DC. Polls taken just before the attack showed a strong appetite to deliver the American blessings of democracy and freedom to less fortunate lands. No longer. Whereas 44% of CFR members thought that promoting democracy abroad should be an American priority in September 2001, only 10% think so today. Only 21% consider defending human rights a priority, down from 43%; only 35% think America should strive to improve living standards in developing countries.
The French, scorned for opposing the invasion of Iraq in 2003, have been gloriously rehabilitated. Fully 62% of America’s general public now have a favourable opinion of France, up from 29% in May 2003. As for Britain, some accuse Tony Blair of following George Bush into Iraq to shore up Britain’s “special relationship” with the superpower. And yet a paltry 10% of the CFR’s members expect Britain to become a more important American ally in the future, whereas 58% think that of China and 55% of India.
Among several differences between the views of the experts and those of the general public, it is perceptions of China and of Afghanistan that stand out. Only 21% of CFR members, fewer than in 2001 (38%), see China’s rise as a major threat to the United States. The general public is warier: 53% say that China is a major threat. And America’s recession has apparently magnified China’s economy in the eyes of Americans: 44% of the public now think that China is the world’s leading economic power, and only 27% name the United States (in fact, America’s economy is at least twice the size of China’s).
As for Afghanistan, fewer than half of the public (46%) and CFR members (41%) say it is likely that the country will be able to withstand the Taliban. Half of the foreign-policy experts but only a third of the public said they were in favour of committing more troops. True, the poll was taken before Mr Obama announced that he would be sending reinforcements. Polls since then suggest that his speech may have changed some minds. But the general sentiment is plain: a weakened America has work to do at home. Abroad will have to look after itself for a while.
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15065772
The survey, “America’s Place in the World”, is conducted every four years by the Pew Research Centre and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). It poses its questions not only to 2,000 members of the public but also to 642 members of the CFR, thus tracking both public opinion and the views of foreign-policy experts.
Its headline finding this time is that, for the first time in over 40 years of such polls, a plurality of the general public (49%) say the United States should “mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own.” Only 30% agreed with that statement in December 2002.
How things have changed since early September 2001, when al-Qaeda struck New York and Washington, DC. Polls taken just before the attack showed a strong appetite to deliver the American blessings of democracy and freedom to less fortunate lands. No longer. Whereas 44% of CFR members thought that promoting democracy abroad should be an American priority in September 2001, only 10% think so today. Only 21% consider defending human rights a priority, down from 43%; only 35% think America should strive to improve living standards in developing countries.
The French, scorned for opposing the invasion of Iraq in 2003, have been gloriously rehabilitated. Fully 62% of America’s general public now have a favourable opinion of France, up from 29% in May 2003. As for Britain, some accuse Tony Blair of following George Bush into Iraq to shore up Britain’s “special relationship” with the superpower. And yet a paltry 10% of the CFR’s members expect Britain to become a more important American ally in the future, whereas 58% think that of China and 55% of India.
Among several differences between the views of the experts and those of the general public, it is perceptions of China and of Afghanistan that stand out. Only 21% of CFR members, fewer than in 2001 (38%), see China’s rise as a major threat to the United States. The general public is warier: 53% say that China is a major threat. And America’s recession has apparently magnified China’s economy in the eyes of Americans: 44% of the public now think that China is the world’s leading economic power, and only 27% name the United States (in fact, America’s economy is at least twice the size of China’s).
As for Afghanistan, fewer than half of the public (46%) and CFR members (41%) say it is likely that the country will be able to withstand the Taliban. Half of the foreign-policy experts but only a third of the public said they were in favour of committing more troops. True, the poll was taken before Mr Obama announced that he would be sending reinforcements. Polls since then suggest that his speech may have changed some minds. But the general sentiment is plain: a weakened America has work to do at home. Abroad will have to look after itself for a while.
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15065772