WASHINGTON – Americans are anxious and frustrated over the state of U.S. foreign relations, a survey indicates, with large majorities worried that the country’s foreign policy is making the world increasingly dangerous for the United States and its people.
The poll, taken in September, included an “anxiety indicator” that calculates the level of angst in the country based on answers to five general survey questions. The indicator registered 130 on a scale of zero to 200, with zero being the most secure and 200 the most anxious.
That indicates “that apprehension and unease about the country’s international position are at high levels and that the public mood may be nearing a tipping point,” said veteran survey researcher Daniel Yankelovich, chairman of Public Agenda, the nonpartisan public policy institute releasing the study today.
The survey identifies a “tipping point” as the point at which “attitudes have reached such a high level of concern that political leaders ignore it at their peril.”
“It’s not just one event or one specific policy that is worrying people. It’s Iraq; it’s the danger of a terrorist attack; it’s energy dependence; it’s our diminished reputation around the world; it’s the rise of violent Muslim extremism,” Yankelovich said.
This was the third survey from Public Agenda Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index. The first was in June 2005 and the second last January. The latest was the first to include the Anxiety Indicator, which will be a part of subsequent surveys with the same five questions.
The survey finds that slightly more than eight in 10 Americans worry about the way things are going for the United States, and just under eight in 10 feel the world has become more dangerous for the nation and Americans.
These are some of the survey’s findings that reflect a disconnect with current U.S. government policy:
* 87 percent of Americans believe the threat to national security is exacerbated when other countries and cultures view the United States in a negative light; 78 percent believe their country is seen as arrogant.
* 52 percent believe democracies reduce conflict and violence, but 64 percent believe democracy can’t be imposed and that countries have to be ready for it.
* 20 percent think the United States can do “a lot” to nourish a democratic system in Iraq; only slightly more, or 24 percent, feel that creating democracies should be a very important goal for the United States.
On a grading system, fewer than one in three respondents gave the U.S. government an A or B in achieving its objectives in Iraq or Afghanistan; and fewer than one in four graded A or B on becoming less dependent on other countries for energy and having good relations with Muslim countries.
The survey, done in cooperation with Foreign Policy magazine, was based on telephone interviews with a national random sample of 1,001 people over the age of 18 between Sept. 5 and Sept. 18. The margin of error for the overall sample is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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