INTER PRESS AGENCY NEWS SERVICE

POLITICS-US:
Public Wants "New Approach" on Foreign Policy
Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (IPS) - More than 70 percent of the U.S. public,
including nearly half of self-identified Republicans, say they prefer
candidates for Congress in the Nov. 7 mid-term elections who will
pursue a "new approach" to U.S. foreign policy, according to a new
survey released here Friday by the Programme on International Policy
Attitudes (PIPA).

The survey, which echoes many of the key findings of two other recent
major polls of U.S. foreign policy attitudes, found that voters are
increasingly disillusioned with critical aspects of policy preferences
of the administration of President George W. Bush, particularly his
reliance on military power, penchant for unilateral action, and
disdain for international opinion.

"Voters are calling for a sea change in U.S. foreign policy," said
PIPA's director, Steven Kull, who noted that, unlike most mid-term
elections, foreign policy has taken centre stage in this year's
Congressional races. "They want less emphasis on military force, and
more on soft power."

Among other findings, the latest poll found that more than two-thirds
of respondents (68 percent) said they were "dissatisfied with the
position of the United States in the world", a sharp increase from the
30 percent who said they were dissatisfied during the first weeks of
the Iraq war in April 2003, and up 14 percent from a Gallup poll taken
just last February.

Moreover, a surprising 44 percent of Republicans said they were
dissatisfied with the U.S. position in the latest survey, which
surveyed a representative, randomly selected sample of 1,058 adults
across the country Oct. 6-15.

Nearly nine out of 10 respondents said they believed that it is either
"somewhat" (40 percent) or "very" important for people in other
countries to feel goodwill toward the U.S. Eighty-four percent of
self-identified Republicans agreed.

The survey comes amid a growing consensus among professional political
analysts that Democrats will regain control of the House of
Representatives for the first time since 1994 and have an even chance
at retaking the Senate, as well. It is the latest in a series of
in-depth polls released over the past two weeks that have shown
widespread and unusually intense disapproval of Bush's stewardship of
foreign policy, particularly in the Iraq and the Middle East, and more
generally of his emphasis on military power and indifference to
foreign public opinion, especially in the Islamic world.

A poll released earlier this week by Public Agenda and Foreign Affairs
journal, a publication of the influential Council on Foreign
Relations, found that nearly two-thirds of respondents believe that
the world feels negatively about the United States. Moreover, nearly
90 percent said they considered that such feelings constitute a threat
to U.S. national security.

It also found that nearly 80 percent of respondents believe the world
is becoming more dangerous -- 43 percent said "much more dangerous" --
and an even higher 83 percent said they were worried either "a lot" or
"somewhat" about "the way things are going for the U.S. in the world"
today.

A second poll released last week by the Chicago Council on Global
Affairs found that around two-thirds of the public believes that the
Iraq war has not reduced the threat of terrorism, will not lead to the
spread of democracy in the Middle East, and has worsened U.S.
relations with the Islamic world. Some three out of four respondents
said they worry about the U.S. playing the role of "world policeman"
more than it should.

The PIPA poll made similar findings. It found, for example, that 65
percent of the public believe that the Bush administration has been
"too quick to get American military forces involved" in dealings with
foreign countries -- up from 59 percent two years ago -- and that 78
percent of respondents, including 64 percent of Republicans, believed
that the Bush administration's conduct of foreign policy had
"decreased" goodwill toward the U.S. overseas.

Two-thirds of the public, including 52 percent of Republicans, said
they believed the administration "should put more emphasis on
diplomatic and economic methods" in the fight against terrorism -- up
from 58 percent three years ago.

Conversely, only 30 percent of respondents said the administration
should put more emphasis on military methods or maintain the present
balance, down from the 39 percent who took that position in 2003.
Among Republicans, the comparable percentages fell from a strong
majority of 59 percent to a minority of 48 percent.

The survey also found a strong preference for Congressional candidates
who favour increasing multilateral cooperation. Nearly three out of
four respondents, including Republicans, said they would prefer
Congressional candidates who believe that "the U.S. should do its
share in efforts to solve international problems together with other
countries" as opposed to "continu(ing) to be the pre-eminent world
leader in solving international problems" (nine percent; 16 percent of
Republicans); or "withdraw(ing) from most efforts to solve
international problems" (16 percent, 11 percent of Republicans).

Kull stressed that he didn't see a big "surge" in support for
multilateralism or opposition to unilateralism in the latest results,
but that support for multilateralism is "congealing and organising in
the context of the current Congressional elections."

Noting that U.S. citizens have traditionally supported
multilateralism, he said, "There's an accumulating feeling that 'when
are we going to get back on track?'"

Asked their reaction to the statement, "For the U.S. to move away from
its role as world policeman and reduce the burden of its large defence
budget, (it) should invest in efforts to strengthen the U.N.'s ability
to deal with potential conflicts in the world," 68 percent of all
respondents, including 53 percent of Republicans, agreed.

Asked to choose between two principles for U.S. foreign policy -- that
Washington should use its power "to make the world be the way that
best serves U.S. interests and values" or that Washington "should
coordinate its power together with other countries according to shared
ideas of what is best for the world as a whole" -- 79 percent,
including 75 percent of Republicans, chose the second option.

On more specific policies, respondents were asked to choose between
two alternatives for dealing with hostile countries, such as Iran and
North Korea -- whether to demand that they first suspend their
objectionable conduct before entering talks or to not impose
pre-conditions before entering into talks. A majority of 55 percent of
all respondents chose the second option, although half of Republicans
chose the first.

Asked whether anti-U.S. attitudes in the Middle East were based mostly
on "dislike of American values" or on "dislike of American policies"
in the region, 62 percent of all respondents chose the latter. Nearly
60 percent of Republicans, on the other hand, chose the former, which
is generally consistent with the administration's position.

Thirty-four percent of the sample's respondents identified themselves
as Republicans; 43 percent as Democrats; and 23 percent as
Independents.

Commenting on the poll, Lael Brainerd, director of the Brookings
Institution's Global Economy and Development Centre and former senior
National Security Council official under President Bill Clinton,
concluded that "Americans feel the need to rebalance the country's
approach to the world."