A survey conducted in the USA by Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press shows that a survey of the United States is playing a less important role globally. The object of this survey on foreign policies was to assess America’s position in the World. Fewer than half of the public (46%) say it is very or somewhat likely that Afghanistan will be able to withstand the threat posed by the Taliban. For the first time in more than 40 years of polling, a plurality (49%) says the United States should “mind its own business internationally” and let other countries get along the best they can on their own. This “isolationist tendency” is a new phenomenon.
The US public sees China’s emerging power as worrisome. There has been virtually no change since 2005 in the percentage of the public saying that China represents a major threat to the United States (53% today, 52% then). China continues to rank among the countries frequently named by the public as dangerous to the U.S.
The survey finds that 41% of the public says the United States plays a less important and powerful role as a world leader today than it did 10 years ago. In a reversal of opinion from the beginning of the last year, 44% of the public now says China is the world’s leading economic power, while just 27% name the United States. In February 2008, 41% said the U.S. was the top economic power while 30% said China.
ISOLATIONISTS AND UNILATERALISTS
However, the percentage saying that the United States should “mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own” has reached an all-time high of 49%. Four years ago, 42% agreed that the U.S. should “mind its own business” in international affairs; in December 2002, just 30% agreed with this statement.
At the same time, there has been a rise in unilateralist sentiment. Fully 44% say that because the United States “is the most powerful nation in the world, we should go our own way in international matters, not worrying about whether other countries agree with us or not. CFR members continue to strongly support the United States playing an assertive role in global affairs: 69% say the U.S. should be either the single world leader (7%) or the most assertive of leading nations (62%). These opinions are little changed from previous surveys.
The survey underscores the public’s anxiety over the nation’s economy. Fully 85% say protecting jobs should be a top foreign policy priority and economic issues are cited most frequently as the greatest international problem confronting the United States, followed closely by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Despite these concerns, public support for free trade agreements like NAFTA and the policies of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has increased somewhat over the last year. In April 2008, nearly half of Americans (48%) said that free trade agreements were bad for the country, while 35% said such agreements were good for the country. In two polls this year, including the current survey, pluralities have said that free trade agreements and WTO policies are good for the country; currently, 43% say that free trade agreements are good for the country, while 32% express a negative opinion.
TURKISH OPINION
Despite being a long time member of NATO, the overall rating of USA in Turkey is all time low. Four-in-ten persons surveyed consider the U.S. an enemy of their country. These are the findings of the opinion poll conducted by the Pew Foundation. This situation is alarming from the US angle. The Obama administration has exerted a considerable amount of diplomatic energy on Turkey: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited there in March, the president himself followed in April and next week Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will call on the White House. These things do not seem working as only 14% of Turks expressed a positive view of the U.S. get poor ratings.
Turkish views of the U.S. have not always been so downbeat. U.S. State Department polling from the beginning of this decade found just over half (52%) of Turks expressing a favourable opinion of the U.S. However, the widely unpopular Iraq war led to a steep decline in America’s image, and it has essentially never recovered.