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Examines public attitudes toward promotion of human rights and environmental protection abroad, use of US troops abroad, and other issues. Based on Chicago Council on Foreign Relations surveys, 1974-94, and other survey data.

National survey data (N = 1,492) collected in 1994 suggest that US attitudes toward international involvement are currently based on four major dimensions: global altruism, US global interests, domestic issues bearing on foreign policy, & military security. Copious & seemingly disparate poll data collected since 1974 is organized, & the likelihood of US public support for international involvement in the 1990s assessed. The answer appears to be affirmative, with the exception of one foreign affairs attitude dimension: all measures of global atruism have experienced a sharp decline during the past decade. 4 Appendixes. Modified AA

Uses survey data to show that a majority of Americans favor an active, cooperative US role in world affairs, including full cooperation with the UN & the selective use of military force. Most Americans also want top priority given to working on US domestic problems, eg, the economy. Trend measures of public polls, 1991/92, show US internationalist sentiment holding steady or up slightly compared to the 1980s, & the proportion of Americans who favor a multilateral approach to international involvement has risen since the Persian Gulf war. Economic & other domestic issues now far outweigh foreign policy & defense issues as the public's main concerns. Americans are demanding more action on the domestic front, but not disengagement from the rest of the world. 1 Appendix. Modified AA

Changes in Soviet policies, US-Soviet summitry, & the dismantling of the iron curtain in Eastern Europe have dramatically altered the way Americans view the USSR. These changes are reflected in numerous survey measures repeated during the past decade which show that Americans' attitudes toward the USSR have changed from deep pessimism & hostility in the early 1980s, in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, to one of cautious optimism entering the 1990s. Most Americans, at this writing, see US-Soviet relations greatly improved, & the USSR, under Mikhail Gorbachev, no longer striving for global domination. At the same time, however, the USSR is still widely seen as a formidable rival for influence in various parts of the Third World. This mix of perceptions has resulted in the public's preference for a cautious, dual approach toward the USSR -- showing receptivity to genuine Soviet conciliatory moves, but also keeping up our guard. 1 Figure, 1 Appendix. AA

Perception of Soviet threat to the US and policy preferences; compares results of various public opinion polls, 1980s and early 1990.

The Palestinian uprising that began in Dec 1987 has sparked the largest amount of polling in the US on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon & the massacres of Palestinians at the Sabra & Shatila camps in 1982. Here, analysis of 1988 public opinion polls on Israeli-Palestinian relations shows that the US public: (1) is closely divided about whether the Israeli reaction to the disturbances has been too harsh; (2) remains considerably more pro-Israel than pro-Arab or pro-Palestinian in its sympathies; (3) is inclined to approve a Palestinian homeland that does not threaten Israel's security; & (4) supports an active US diplomatic role in the Middle East, including talks with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. 1 Appendix, 2 References. AA

Uprising which began in Dec. 1987; findings from several public opinion polls, early 1988, chiefly. Contents: Israel's actions on the West Bank; Israel's image before and after the uprising; Palestinian homeland.