Vox Americani

In: FP, Heft 126, S. 29-38

Abstract

As illustration of the contradictory beliefs held by US citizens regarding foreign policy, Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the U of Maryland & author of several studies of US public opinion, interviewed a composite of average Americans concerning their views. The composite was formed from the majority positions in comprehensive polling data. The results portray American public opinion as complex, refusing to side with simplistic beliefs, but vacillating between altruism & self-concern; protectionism & entrepreneurial expansionism; & isolationist & multilateral approaches to peacekeeping & world problem solving. Americans' perceptions of their country's participation in foreign aid & world peacekeeping are higher than the actual reality. Terrorism is seen as a key concern for the future. 1 Table. L. A. Hoffman