Sep 17, 2019

Poll: What Americans want from U.S. foreign policy

Reproduced from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Chart: Axios Visuals
Reproduced from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Chart: Axios Visuals

Americans have become a bit less isolationist in the Trump era, according to a poll from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

By the numbers: 69% think the U.S. is better off playing an active role globally, compared to 58% 5 years ago and 64% toward the end of the Obama administration.

Other key findings:

  • 87% of Americans think international trade is good for the U.S. economy. That's a whopping 28% higher than in 2016, with steady increases over the past 3 years.
  • Most Americans think military alliances (74%), military superiority (69%) and stationing troops overseas (51%) make the U.S. safer. NATO has substantial support from Democrats (86%) and Republicans (62%).
  • Just 27% think U.S. military interventions make the country safer.

Partisan splits:

  • 78% of Republicans see "large numbers of immigrants and refugees coming into the U.S." as a critical threat (up from 61% in 2017), compared to 19% of Democrats.
  • 78% of Democrats see climate change as a critical threat (up from 69% in 2017), compared to 23% of Republicans (up from 16% in 2017).
  • Just last year, Republicans (42%) and Democrats (40%) were about equally likely to see "the development of China as a world power" as a critical threat. Now 54% of Republicans do, compared to 36% of Democrats.
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