| New York Times | - |
Americans
are exhibiting an isolationist streak, with majorities across party
lines decidedly opposed to American intervention in North Korea or Syria right now as economic concerns continue to dwarf all other issues, according to the latest New York ...
Poll Shows Broad Isolationism in Americans
By MEGAN THEE-BRENAN
Published: April 30, 2013
Americans are exhibiting an isolationist streak, with majorities across
party lines decidedly opposed to American intervention in North Korea or
Syria right now as economic concerns continue to dwarf all other
issues, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Multimedia
Related
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How the Poll Was Conducted (May 1, 2013)
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Talks to Settle Wages Keep Last Lights on at Joint Korean Complex (April 30, 2013)
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U.S. Sees North Korea Blustering, Not Acting (April 2, 2013)
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Chemicals Would Be ‘Game Changer’ in Syria, Obama Says (March 21, 2013)
While the public does not support direct military action in those two
countries right now, a broad 70 percent majority favor the use of
remotely piloted aircraft, or drones, to carry out bombing attacks
against suspected terrorists in foreign countries.
Interest in the Syrian conflict has waned, with 39 percent of those
surveyed saying they are following the violence closely, a
15-percentage-point drop since a CBS News poll conducted in March,
before the Boston Marathon bombings.
Sixty-two percent of the public say the United States has no
responsibility to do something about the fighting in Syria between
government forces and antigovernment groups, while just one-quarter
disagree. Likewise, 56 percent say North Korea is a threat that can be
contained for now without military action, just 15 percent say the
situation requires immediate American action and 21 percent say the
North is not a threat at all.
Louis Brown, 50, a poll respondent from Springfield Township, Ohio,
described Syria and North Korea in a follow-up interview as “political
hotbeds.” In his view, “we don’t need additional loss of American lives
right now.”
Instead, Mr. Brown said he thought that now was the time to “concentrate
on our own backyard,” and he cited the economy as the most important
problem facing the country. Mr. Brown said Congress and President Obama
should “address the economic situation in the country and stop
infighting.”
Many Americans agree with Mr. Brown as the economy and jobs continue to
top the list of the most important problems facing the country while
foreign policy issues barely register. Four in 10 Americans cite the
economy and jobs as the most important problems facing the country,
while only 1 percent named foreign policy.
Another poll respondent, Pat Bates, 63, of Parkville, Mo., said she
would “hate to see us trot into yet another country and try to fix
things when we’re not quite sure what we’re doing.” She went on to say
that “we’ve certainly got enough to keep us busy here without sending
our young people over somewhere again.”
The nationwide telephone survey was conducted on both land lines and
cellphones with 965 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or
minus three percentage points. More results will be released at 6:30
p.m. Tuesday on nytimes.com.
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