Most of the public ranks promoting democracy in other countries as the least important of U.S. foreign policy goals.
Do you think that the U.S. can effectively help other countries become democratic, or is democracy something that countries only come to on their own when they're ready for it? From Foreign Affairs
Survey says:
I found this interesting article off Foreign Affairs:
The Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index is a joint venture with Foreign Affairs, America's most influential publication on international affairs and foreign policy, conducted by Public Agenda with major support from the Ford Foundation. To create the Foreign Policy Index, Public Agenda will regularly interview a nationwide random sample of adult Americans to track the changing state of mind of average Americans toward our foreign policy-what worries people most, where they support or resist present foreign policy, what their priorities are and what foreign policy initiatives make sense to them.
So this is a public opinion poll created by Foreign Affairs, to determine American opinions on what matters most in U.S. foreign policy. Now here is some of the interesting results from this survey:
The American public has always been reluctant to be the world's policeman, but the latest Public Agenda Confidence in Foreign Policy Index suggests that on some level, the country might prefer to be the world's firefighter, charging to the rescue when natural disaster or disease strikes. Even so, this is one of the few foreign policy goals most Americans seem comfortable with just now. Only one American in five sees creating democracies as a very important goal. About half say traditional goals such as improving the treatment of women or helping people in poor countries get an education are very important. The results suggest that Americans are reevaluating the country's effectiveness in many areas-viewing some kinds of help, such as promoting democracy, as both beyond the reach of the United States and less effective in improving security. They may also be yearning for roles that are less controversial, have limited responsibility and where, at least in the public's judgment, the country can be successful.
If the public had its way, the first priority of U.S. foreign policy would be helping other nations recover from natural disasters like the Asian tsunami, as well as cooperating on problems like the environment and controlling diseases. A wide cross section of all Americans, seven in 10, considers dealing effectively with these natural disasters to be "very important"
So instead of being the "world's policeman," the American public would rather have the United States be known as the "world's fireman," in rescuing the world when disasters strike. Only one in five Americans see creating democracies as a very important goal--clearly showing that the Bush administration is completely out of touch with what the American public believes should be included in U.S. foreign policy.
But it gets better. Consider this:
Promoting democracy has become a major goal of U.S. policy in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, where the Bush administration argues that in the end, democratic reform is the best way of undermining Islamic extremists. This edition of the Foreign Policy Index was conducted after the successful Iraqi elections but before the hard-line group Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian parliament.
Even so, most of the public ranks promoting democracy in other countries as the least important of the foreign policy goals we asked about and seems to doubt the United States can achieve it. Significantly, Americans are divided on whether it will make the United States more secure even if we pull it off. Only 36 percent believe the United States can actively help other countries become democracies, while 58 percent say that "democracy [is] something that countries only come to on their own when they're ready for it." Six months ago, 50 percent thought the United States was doing well at promoting democracy; this time the number is trending downward to 46 percent. The public is just as skeptical when asked specifically about Iraq. While six in 10 say the United States can at least do "something" to create a democratic Iraq, only 22 percent say it can do "a lot." In a more general sense, about half (53 percent) say that when more countries become democratic there will be less conflict in the world.
However, there are significant concerns about what we are currently doing-73 percent worry that our actions in the Middle East are aiding the recruitment of terrorists. As to what else might be done, the public is evenly split on whether reducing poverty will also reduce terrorism (49 percent say no, 47 percent say yes).
In other words, the American public no longer believes that the U.S. should be actively promoting democracy, saying that the individual countries need to come around to it. The American public pretty much doubts that the U.S. can achieve the foreign policy goals of promoting democracy in Iraq--in spite of the repeated Bush foreign policy speeches and White House PR-spin. And finally, a strong 73 percent of the American public believes that the U.S. actions in Iraq are aiding in recruiting terrorists.
What this means is that the Bush administration is completely out of touch with the American public. The Bush administration has staked its foreign policy on an extreme role of the U.S. being the "world's policeman," to the point where the U.S. has become an imperial power. While the American public has always been skittish on being the "world's policeman," the deteriorating events in Iraq have turned a majority of the public towards opposing the Bush administration's foreign policies--especially regarding the war in Iraq. And all the Bush speeches and White House PR-spin to try to garner support for the war, have been falling on deaf ears.
This is certainly not good for the Republicans, going into the midterm elections....
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