Anguish Over Iraq Shakes Public's Faith in Military Solutions

Vast Majority Reject Possible Military Responses to Iran

Survey Suggests Americans Nearing Crisis of Confidence in U.S. Foreign

Policy

    NEW YORK, April 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Public Agenda and its
 partner Foreign Affairs today made public the fourth edition of the
 Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index (CFPI). The new research provides
 striking evidence that Americans' anguish over Iraq is spilling over to
 other areas of foreign policy -- with serious potential effects on the
 policy options available to current and future leaders.
     The Spring 2007 Anxiety Indicator stands at 137, well above the neutral
 mid-point of 100 and a seven point increase since September 2006. "The
 Anxiety Indicator is moving closer to the 150 mark, the 'red zone' that to
 me would signal a full blown crisis of public confidence," said Public
 Agenda Chairman Daniel Yankelovich. Full report at: publicagenda.org/CFPI4
     Anxiety Indicator Results
 
     --  84 percent are worried about the way things are going for the United
         States in world affairs
     --  82 percent say the world is becoming more dangerous for the United
         States and its people
     --  73 percent say the United States is not doing a good job as a leader
         in creating a more peaceful and prosperous world
     --  68 percent believe the rest of the world sees the United States
         negatively
     --  67 percent say U.S. relations with the rest of the world are on the
         wrong track
 
     Iraq and the Spill-Over Effect
 
     --  Public support for military solutions in many scenarios is virtually
         off the table for most of the public. In dealing with Iran, support
         for possible military action is in the single digits (8 percent)
 
     --  70 percent say that criticism that the United States has been too
         quick to resort to war is at least partly justified (31 percent say
         it's "totally justified").  On what the government must do to fight
         terrorism, 67 percent say we should put more emphasis on diplomatic
         and economic methods, while 27 percent say more emphasis on military
         efforts
 
     --  84 percent say "initiating military force only when we have the
         support of our allies" should be important to our foreign policy (51
         percent say "very important")
 
 

SOURCE Public Agenda