Pew Research Center / Chicago Council on Foreign Relations - Foreign Policy Attitudes Now Driven by 9/11 and Iraq (2004)

• In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks concern over many objectives perceived as unrelated to terrorism, such as tackling hunger, fell sharply. But those concerns have rebounded in the current survey.
  
• In a list of foreign policy priorities, 47% of respondents said dealing with problems of world hunger should be a priority in September 2001, falling to 34% in October of 2001, and rebounding to 50% in July of 2004.

The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Global Views 2004: American Public Opinion and Foreign Policy (2004)

• Although rated as a very important foreign policy goal by the US public in 2002, combating world hunger was not rated as very important by majorities in 2004 (43%, a drop of 11 points). By contrast, the percentage of leaders** rating the importance of combating world hunger increased by 8 points to 67%.
  
• Preferences for helping to improve the standard of living in less developed countries showed similar trends: only 18% of the US public listed this as a foreign policy goal, while 64% of leaders said this was an important goal, up significantly.
  
• While few Americans want to cut spending on international programs in 2004, support for expanding spending dropped somewhat since 2002. On the other hand, the trend among leaders is to expand spending.

Public Agenda / Foreign Affairs Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index (2005)

• The public believes strongly in the United States as a force for humanitarian good. 83% gave the U.S. grades of “A” or “B” in the “helping other countries during natural disasters” category.

Return to Index of Surveys.