Poll Lays Bare American Foreign Policy Fears

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Poll Lays Bare American Foreign Policy Fears

Published on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 by the Agence France-Presse

Poll Lays Bare American Foreign Policy Fears

Americans are worried about their role in the world, the US reputation in Muslim nations and rising deaths in Iraq, but have no idea how their fears could be remedied, according to a poll.

(AFP Photo)

Three out of four Americans polled by Foreign Affairs journal and Public Agenda were worried both about losing trust abroad and concerned about hatred of the United States in Muslim nations.

Two-thirds of those polled believed that the world had a negative view of the United States and one in ten actually used the word "bully" to describe foreign perceptions of their country.

Eighty-two percent of those surveyed, meanwhile worried a lot, or somewhat, that the Iraq war was leading to too many casualties.

"Americans are broadly uneasy about the quality of our relations with the rest of the world, especially Muslim nations," said Public Agenda Chairman Daniel Yankelovich.

"The questions reveal widespread doubts about the country's current course. But there is no consensus on which direction to take."

As to how the United States should wield power in the world, those surveyed were undecided.

Some 63 percent said the charge that the United States had been too eager to go to war was totally or partially justified.

But a streak of unilateralism was also evident, as nearly a fifth of those surveyed said that America was totally justified to be concerned only with its own interests and to disregard those of other nations.

Eighty-three percent of those surveyed however, gave the United States an A or B grade for helping other country's during natural disasters.

But 64 percent gave the United States a C grade or worse for having good relations with Muslim countries.

Foreign Affairs is an influential foreign policy journal published by the Council on Foreign Relations. Public Agenda is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization.

The poll was based on four focus groups by telephone with a random sample of 1,004 adults between June 1 and June 13, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

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