Photo Credit: AP Photos
This is a quick follow up to my last post and it continues the theme of foreign policy as a topic in the U.S. presidential election. We have previously noted that there is a perception that this election will focus primarily on economic issues (jobs!) and domestic policy (health care) with foreign policy a distant third. If we asked American if they still care about foreign policy, what would they say? According to a recent survey on Foreign Policy Matters in 2012 by Basswood Research, the “overwhelming majority of Americans (92.2% of respondents) believe it is important for the United States to continue playing a significant role in world affairs. Indeed, more than a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a very strong majority of Americans (85.7%) say that the United States is a ‘force for good in the world.'” Those are high numbers for an electorate that pundits say no longer cares about foreign policy. The survey results are available here in PDF. If you are continuing your study of foreign policy topics in the presidential election, the FPA’s Foreign Policy Election Guide provides background and highlights major differences in the foreign policy views of President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. The FPA Candidate Selector helps you pick the candidate best aligned with your views. If the pundits say Americans no longer care about foreign policy, survey results and educated FPA blog readers will prove them wrong.
