Strong support among American Public for international institutions

There is strong support for international institutions among the American public. According to a Chicago Council on Global Affairs study released on October 11, 2006, an overwhelming majority of Americans favor multilateralism and cooperation with international institutions. When asked if “it will be best for the future of the country if we take an active part in world affairs,” 70 percent responded positively, while 60 percent believe that the United States should accept United Nations decisions, and 73 per cent believe that the United States should comply with rulings from the World Trade Organization.

Americans support elements of a stronger United Nations. When asked how favorably they viewed the U.N., Americans rated the U.N. a 55 out of 100, with only the World Health Organization receiving a higher score. Overwhelming majorities had favorable opinions toward creating an international marshals service that could arrest leaders responsible for genocide and a U.N. authority that could investigate human rights violations. Smaller majorities favored standing U.N. peacekeeping forces and U.N. regulation of the international arms trade. An overwhelming majority, 83 percent of respondents, believed in U.N. Security Council using force to prevent genocide and to defend a country from an external aggressor. There is also strong support for increasing the representation on the U.N. Security Council to include large developing states such as Brazil and India.

Support for the use of U.S. troops is reserved for situations in which human rights abuses are occurring and to prevent nuclear proliferation. When asked about what priorities the U.S. military should have, 71 percent believed that U.S. troops should be used “to stop a government from committing genocide and killing large numbers of its own people,” 65 percent agreed that U.S. troops should be used as part of an international force to stop the killing in Darfur, 66 percent were in favor of committing U.S. troops “to deal with humanitarian crises,” and 62 percent believed that U.S. troops should be used to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. Though favor was given toward using U.S. troops to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions, 58 per cent of Americans believe that this military strike should only occur only under UN auspices, compared to only 18 per cent in favor of unilateral action.


Updated November 3, 2006

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Links to other website highlighting polls and research on American public opinion on U.S. global engagement