Latest on America's Global Role

A new Gallup poll says that Americans are increasingly unsure about the U.S. role in world affairs.

Americans' satisfaction with the U.S. role in world affairs has declined substantially in the past year. According to a January 2003 Gallup Poll, just over half of Americans (55%) claim to be satisfied with the U.S. role, which is down from 66% who felt this way at this time last year, and 61% in 2001. Why the growing uneasiness? It's attributed in part to America's war on terrorism being overshadowed by more complex foreign policy issues, namely the threat of confrontation with Iraq and, to a lesser degree, North Korea. In other words, we don't feel that we are making enough headway in solving these problems.

Where does this leave us in terms of support for an Iraqi war effort? Only a slight majority of Americans (52%) are still in favor of sending ground troops to Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power, other poll results indicate Americans' general confidence in the country's role in world affairs is weakening as the threat of war looms larger. It will be interesting to see if a new rally effect will emerge should the United States actually go to war with Iraq.

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