GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Since Sept. 11, the media has increased its focus on world affairs, and a February Gallup poll shows an increase in the percentage of Americans who say they are paying attention to news about foreign countries when compared to a year ago. The most recent Gallup update shows that 79% of Americans approve of the way President George W. Bush is handling foreign affairs.
Bush has used a variety of public venues to outline his foreign and domestic policy agendas for 2002, most notably, his State of the Union address on January 29. In a two-part series, Gallup reviews where the public stands on each of the president's major policy proposals. Part Two of the series below deals with Bush's foreign policy proposals and Part One (see "related items" below) addressed his domestic policy proposals.
Overall, Americans are supportive of Bush's policy goals -- 73% believe they will move the United States in the right direction and only 19% think they will move the country in the wrong direction, according to a Jan. 25-27 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. In general, strong majorities of the public favor Bush's specific proposals, more so on his foreign policy objectives than on his domestic policy objectives.
Bush's greatest public support regarding foreign policy is for many of his proposals designed to fight terrorism abroad and prevent unfriendly countries from threatening the United States. Bush's greatest legislative challenge in the foreign policy arena may be in developing a missile defense program, which only a slim majority of Americans support.
Bush outlined each of the following proposals in his State of the Union address, and since that time, has continued to publicly lobby for each proposal's passage.
Fighting Terrorism Abroad
1. Shut down terrorist camps, disrupt terrorist plans, and bring terrorists to justice. Prevent terrorists and regimes that seek chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world.
Americans have been strongly supportive of any proposed actions to prevent terrorist activity.
- Seventy-seven percent say that destroying terrorist operations outside of Afghanistan should be a "very important" goal of U.S. military action [Feb. 8-10].
- A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll finds that eight in 10 registered voters favor the United States taking military action against any nation found to be aiding or hiding terrorists [Jan. 30-31].
- Sixty-two percent of Americans favored a long-term war to defeat global terrorist networks, as opposed to 31% who favored a shorter war to punish only those groups involved in the Sept. 11 attacks [Nov. 26-27, 2001].
Similarly, Americans strongly support military action against countries that have the capability to develop weapons of mass destruction, including Iran, Iraq, and North Korea -- all of which Bush singled out in his State of the Union address. Seventy-nine percent say that preventing these three countries from developing weapons of mass destruction is a very important goal for U.S. military action. Eighty-six percent believe the United States should take military action to prevent countries that sponsor terrorism from threatening the United States or its allies with weapons of mass destruction [Feb 8-10].
2. Station troops in the Philippines to help to train that country's armed forces to go after terrorist cells.
Eighty-one percent of Americans approve of the decision to send a small number of military advisors to help train the Philippine army to fight Muslim terrorists. Seventy percent of Americans say they would also approve if the United States sent 1,000 U.S. military troops into combat to fight Muslim terrorists in the Philippines [Jan. 11-14].
Defense Spending
3. Pass the largest increase in defense spending in two decades.
The public's preferences on defense spending appear somewhat mixed. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds that 58% of Americans say defense spending should be given the highest priority of all the government-spending programs, while 38% think other programs deserve higher priority [Jan. 25-27]. When asked if the United States should increase defense spending in this year's budget, a majority in several polls consistently favors the concept, even when it is noted that such increases will necessitate cuts in domestic programs. For example, a Jan. 31- Feb. 3 Los Angeles Times poll finds that 53% of Americans approve of an increase in defense spending, even if it would lead to cuts in domestic programs. Twenty-three percent approve of the increase, but not if it means there would be cuts in domestic programs, and 19% disapprove of an increase.
However, when asked for their assessment of the current level of defense spending, 48% of Americans say the United States is spending the "right amount," and 17% say it is spending "too much." Just 33% would seem to agree with the president that "too little" is now spent on defense [Feb. 4-6].
Missile Defense
4. Develop and deploy effective missile defenses to protect the United States and its allies from sudden attack.
A Feb. 4-6 Gallup poll showed, for the first time, majority support for spending the money necessary to research and develop a missile defense system. Fifty-one percent of Americans favor this idea, just 16% oppose, and 32% are unsure about spending the money to research and develop a missile defense system. Prior polls showed more support than opposition to this proposal, but the previous high point in support was just 44% in February 2001.
Foreign Trade
5. Expand trade overseas.
The public seems to support efforts at increasing international trade. A majority of Americans (52%) view foreign trade as an opportunity for economic growth, while 39% see it as a threat to the economy from foreign imports [Feb. 4-6].
