Yesterday, the
Christian Science Monitor analyzed an article in Foreign Affairs by Daniel Yankelovich, a founder of The Public Agenda. Mr. Yankelovich's article,
The Tipping Points, describes Americans' foreign policy views as seen in his most recent poll. This article should be required reading for the foreign policy wonks in the Democratic party.
According to the Monitor:
Mr. Yankelovich writes that the public has a surprisingly different view of what their government's foreign policy priorities should be from that of politicians in Washington. For instance, one of President Bush's most often stated foreign policy goals is helping to spread democracy, particularly throughout the Middle East. Yet those surveyed ranked this as the least important policy.
In fact, support for "actively creating democracies in other countries" is merely 20 percent. Yankelovich reports that the public's most important foreign policy goals are humanitarian, such as:
helping other nations when they are struck by natural disasters (71 percent)
cooperating with other countries on problems such as the environment and disease control (70 percent)
supporting UN peacekeeping (69 percent
improving the treatment of women in other countries (57 percent)
helping people in poor countries get an education (51 percent)
helping countries move out of poverty (40 percent).
On the partisan divide, Yankelovich says in his Foreign Affairs article:
There are no significant differences between Republicans and Democrats on humanitarian ideals. The parties do differ, however, on the desirability of promoting democracy in other countries (30 percent of Republicans surveyed supported this goal, compared to only 16 percent of Democrats). But even a majority of Republicans have little stomach for this priority of the Bush administration.
The religious divide is also narrowing. Seven months ago, there was:
a remarkable parallel between the views of Republican respondents and the views of those respondents who said they frequently attend religious services. (By "religious services," we mean services of any kind -- in churches, synagogues, mosques, or elsewhere.) The second survey showed reduced enthusiasm for some of the administration's policies among devoted service attendees, especially regarding the war in Iraq.
In its article on Americans' foreign policy views, the CSM also quoted from The Lexington Herald-Leader:
The Lexington Herald-Leader at Kentucky.com recently juxtaposed polls taken at the time of the original invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and polls on the same issues today. Among the changes it found in public opinion: In April 2003, 70 percent of respondents in an ABC-Washington Post poll said the war in Iraq was worth fighting. In March 2006 only 29 percent in a CBS poll said results of the war were worth the cost.
The paper also looked at changes in statistics on Iraq and the US-led coalition. For instance, when looking at the reconstruction of Iraq:
Potable water: 50 percent of Iraqis had access before war; about 32 percent now.
Electric power: Baghdad, with one-fifth of Iraq's 25 million people, had power for 16 to 24 hours a day before war; just under 4 hours now.
Crude oil production: Prewar peak was 2.5 million barrels a day; now 1.84 million.
Unemployment: Estimates ranged from 50 percent to 60 percent in June 2003; now 28 percent to 40 percent.
These results of the U.S. invasion and occupation are undoubtedly influencing Americans' views on foreign policy.
Thanks to Juan Cole for the link to the CSM article.