U.S. Should “Mind Its Own Business” Internationally

The American public has increasingly expressed reservations about the United States taking an active role in the world in recent years. Currently, the public is split over whether the U.S. should “mind its own business internationally” — 46% say that it should, while 50% disagree. This country was also split on this question in 2009, but this represents a dramatic change in opinion. In 2004, only 34% said the U.S. should mind its own business internationally and as recently as 2002 the public disagreed with this premise by a two-to-one margin. Indeed, for most of the past half-century Pew Research Center and Gallup surveys have shown substantially more Americans disagreeing than agreeing with the idea that the U.S. should mind its own business internationally. Also, for the first time in a decade, as many Republicans (45%) as Democrats (43%) said the United States should mind its own business internationally. In three surveys conducted between 2002 and 2005, only about half as many Republicans as Democrats expressed this view. Read More