I recently came across an interesting website that reports US public opinion on a broad range of international policy issues. According to the site, each report integrates and explains as much as a decade of polling data.
According to the website, regarding the Kyoto Treaty: “A strong majority of Americans favors the US abiding by and ratifying the Kyoto Treaty”. Regarding public opinion on the United Nations: “The majority of Americans would like the UN to be stronger.” When it comes to terrorism, “A near-unanimous majority favors the US dealing with the problem of terrorism in a multilateral fashion. Overwhelming majorities favor seeking UN Security Council approval for military action.”
It also states that a strong majority of Americans believe in the idea of universal human rights, but polls have indicated that awareness is low. It indicates that Americans in general see globalization as more positive than negative.
A report from October 2002 indicates that “A majority of Americans favors trying to achieve Iraqi disarmament through the process of UN inspections, rather than trying to achieve regime change, even though most Americans have doubts about whether inspections would completely eliminate the Iraqi threat.”
A report on the Israel-Palestinian conflict indicates that the majority of Americans believe that US policy in the Middle East was a factor prompting the September 11th attacks and “A strong majority views Israel as a friend of the United States, but only a substantial minority views it as an ally, and Americans are divided over sending US troops to defend Israel in the event it is attacked.”
The Americans & The World website is offered by “The Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), and can be viewed @ www.americans-world.org