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November 17, 2005
A quadrennial poll on foreign policy issues finds both the public and U.S. opinion leaders taking a decidedly cautious view of America’s place in the world, reflecting concerns about the war abroad and growing problems at home.
The survey, a collaborative effort between the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Council on Foreign Relations, finds a striking revival of isolationist sentiment among the general public. Fully 42 percent of Americans say the United States should “mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own.” That represents a sharp increase since 2002 (30 percent), and is on par with the percentage expressing that view during the mid-1970s, following the Vietnam War, and in the 1990s, after the Cold War ended.
The interviews conducted among eight groups of influential Americans reveals that they have become less supportive of the United States playing a “first among equals” role among the world’s leading nations. The goal of promoting democracy in other nations has also lost ground, and while most opinion leaders view President Bush’s calls for expanded democracy in the Middle East as a good idea, far fewer think it will actually succeed.
These are among the principal findings of America’s Place in the World, a quadrennial survey of opinion leaders from religion, government, the news media, academia, the military, and several other professions, along with the public, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in collaboration with the Council on Foreign Relations. The survey, conducted Sept. 5-Oct. 31, reflects the major changes in the world that have occurred since the previous poll, conducted in the summer of 2001 just prior to the 9/11 attacks:
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