.
With the upcoming presidential election looming over the country, toward what direction should the new leadership should steer? Through recent studies by the Pew Research Center and Gallup, there are a few clear trends in public sentiment toward America’s domestic and foreign policy.
MILITARY POWER AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Both parties have seen a steady increase for defense support over the past three years, with partisan divides holding steady. Interestingly enough, most United States citizens believe that America should pull back its global involvement and foreign funding, and instead focusing on domestic issues first. This contradicts increased defense spending, which would go primarily towards bolstering the United States’ position as a global military superpower. However, these two views could be reconciled by the fact that 80% of citizens believe ISIS to be a major threat to the wellbeing of the United States.
The bulk of support for military engagement in the Middle East against ISIS lies within the Republican camp, with 74% of Republicans stating that they are concerned the United States will not go far enough in stopping militants. Amongst Republicans, supporters of presumed presidential nominee Donald J. Trump are the staunchest champions of ground troop engagement, and are also the group that fears refugees the most.
Unsurprisingly, support for Israel has dominated across almost all demographics, but further examination of the Israel-Palestine conflict reveals rifts within the Democratic Party. Supporters of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s presumed presidential nominee, are more likely to support Israel, whereas Bernie Sanders’, former Democratic presidential hopeful, camp supports Palestine over Israel by six points. Over time, support for Israel has grown in all ideological groups excluding the most liberal Democrats. These changes are commonly attributed to fewer individuals who no longer state “no opinion,” and not to fewer liberal Democrats supporting Israel. However, Republicans remain somewhat skeptical of the possibility for a two-state solution; the overall consensus is that there is a possibility of a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.
POLITICAL ALLIES AND ADVERSARIES
By a strong majority, Americans believe that being in NATO benefits the United States. However, a sizeable minority of the public believes that the interests of America’s NATO allies should not be taken into account as strongly as they currently are.
In regards to the United Nations and European Union, both organizations are seen in a positive light for the most part after a dip in support in the early 2000s. European nations are still seen as more important allies than nations in Asia, although Asia is a close contender for the youngest age groups.
The biggest divide between political camps comes in regards to Russia and China’s positions as potential allies. Republicans are notably more suspicious of Russia and China as potential allies, whereas Democrats view these nations as problems and not adversaries. Democrats are shown to believe that climate change is a much more serious problem than Russia, China, or refugees, especially amongst the more liberal Democrats.
UNITED STATES HEGEMONY
In regards to the United States’ longstanding position as the world hegemon, the belief that the nation has become less important holds a strong majority in Republican and independent ideologies. For Democrats, the majority consensus seems to be that the United States has not declined in importance, but it also has not improved.
The biggest divide in regards to global respect for United States lies within a generational gap. Citizens 50 years and older believe that the United States is less important by almost 20 points more than citizens younger than 30. Global respect for the United States is still seen as declining by a majority of the population, but the vote for “less respected” has dropped to 61% from its 70% spot in 2013. This is an improvement from the George W. Bush administration, where all partisan groups agreed that the United States was less respected and less powerful than it was in prior years. Perhaps this could explain the reasoning behind a desire for increased military spending. Although military armaments are considered hard power, these give a significant amount of soft power as a potentially powerful ally or adversary.
FOREIGN PERCEPTION
Worldwide, foreign approval of the United States has stayed about the same – 45%. Although residents in most countries are more likely to view the United States favorably, there are certain regions where approval has hit an all-time low. Africa, which has the strongest support worldwide for the United States, has hit record lows for approval. Since Barack Obama took office, African approval has steadily fallen and now sits at 59%.
In Europe, the United States still enjoys strong support from its key allies, but approval ratings have only just begun to reach 2009 levels. In contrast to this, Russia’s ratings of the United States have fallen to a meager 1%, the lowest number ever recorded by Gallup.
Lastly, Asian approval has remained steady amongst most countries, not increasing despite successes with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the nuclear deal with Iran. For the most part, the United States has failed to recover from 2014 losses in former Soviet republics, but approval has only dropped more than 10% in Singapore. These approval-rating shifts have been attributed to more individuals having opinions about the United States, as opposed to one side losing support.
Worldwide, the United States still enjoys relatively stable support from most regions, but there remain pockets of fierce disapproval centering mostly on former Soviet areas and Africa.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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America’s Love Hate Relationship with Its Leadership
Morning light shines through American Flags and an old style street lamp in Georgetown.
July 5, 2016
With the upcoming presidential election looming over the country, toward what direction should the new leadership should steer? Through recent studies by the Pew Research Center and Gallup, there are a few clear trends in public sentiment toward America’s domestic and foreign policy.
MILITARY POWER AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Both parties have seen a steady increase for defense support over the past three years, with partisan divides holding steady. Interestingly enough, most United States citizens believe that America should pull back its global involvement and foreign funding, and instead focusing on domestic issues first. This contradicts increased defense spending, which would go primarily towards bolstering the United States’ position as a global military superpower. However, these two views could be reconciled by the fact that 80% of citizens believe ISIS to be a major threat to the wellbeing of the United States.
The bulk of support for military engagement in the Middle East against ISIS lies within the Republican camp, with 74% of Republicans stating that they are concerned the United States will not go far enough in stopping militants. Amongst Republicans, supporters of presumed presidential nominee Donald J. Trump are the staunchest champions of ground troop engagement, and are also the group that fears refugees the most.
Unsurprisingly, support for Israel has dominated across almost all demographics, but further examination of the Israel-Palestine conflict reveals rifts within the Democratic Party. Supporters of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s presumed presidential nominee, are more likely to support Israel, whereas Bernie Sanders’, former Democratic presidential hopeful, camp supports Palestine over Israel by six points. Over time, support for Israel has grown in all ideological groups excluding the most liberal Democrats. These changes are commonly attributed to fewer individuals who no longer state “no opinion,” and not to fewer liberal Democrats supporting Israel. However, Republicans remain somewhat skeptical of the possibility for a two-state solution; the overall consensus is that there is a possibility of a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.
POLITICAL ALLIES AND ADVERSARIES
By a strong majority, Americans believe that being in NATO benefits the United States. However, a sizeable minority of the public believes that the interests of America’s NATO allies should not be taken into account as strongly as they currently are.
In regards to the United Nations and European Union, both organizations are seen in a positive light for the most part after a dip in support in the early 2000s. European nations are still seen as more important allies than nations in Asia, although Asia is a close contender for the youngest age groups.
The biggest divide between political camps comes in regards to Russia and China’s positions as potential allies. Republicans are notably more suspicious of Russia and China as potential allies, whereas Democrats view these nations as problems and not adversaries. Democrats are shown to believe that climate change is a much more serious problem than Russia, China, or refugees, especially amongst the more liberal Democrats.
UNITED STATES HEGEMONY
In regards to the United States’ longstanding position as the world hegemon, the belief that the nation has become less important holds a strong majority in Republican and independent ideologies. For Democrats, the majority consensus seems to be that the United States has not declined in importance, but it also has not improved.
The biggest divide in regards to global respect for United States lies within a generational gap. Citizens 50 years and older believe that the United States is less important by almost 20 points more than citizens younger than 30. Global respect for the United States is still seen as declining by a majority of the population, but the vote for “less respected” has dropped to 61% from its 70% spot in 2013. This is an improvement from the George W. Bush administration, where all partisan groups agreed that the United States was less respected and less powerful than it was in prior years. Perhaps this could explain the reasoning behind a desire for increased military spending. Although military armaments are considered hard power, these give a significant amount of soft power as a potentially powerful ally or adversary.
FOREIGN PERCEPTION
Worldwide, foreign approval of the United States has stayed about the same – 45%. Although residents in most countries are more likely to view the United States favorably, there are certain regions where approval has hit an all-time low. Africa, which has the strongest support worldwide for the United States, has hit record lows for approval. Since Barack Obama took office, African approval has steadily fallen and now sits at 59%.
In Europe, the United States still enjoys strong support from its key allies, but approval ratings have only just begun to reach 2009 levels. In contrast to this, Russia’s ratings of the United States have fallen to a meager 1%, the lowest number ever recorded by Gallup.
Lastly, Asian approval has remained steady amongst most countries, not increasing despite successes with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the nuclear deal with Iran. For the most part, the United States has failed to recover from 2014 losses in former Soviet republics, but approval has only dropped more than 10% in Singapore. These approval-rating shifts have been attributed to more individuals having opinions about the United States, as opposed to one side losing support.
Worldwide, the United States still enjoys relatively stable support from most regions, but there remain pockets of fierce disapproval centering mostly on former Soviet areas and Africa.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
