Public Opinion and America's Role in the World

The last time that there was so little support for an “active” role was in 1982.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs published the results of a new survey of Americans’ views of what the U.S. role in the world should be:

Fewer than six in 10 Americans think the United States should play an active role in world affairs (56%, 43% stay out of world affairs). This reading is one of the lowest levels recorded since the survey question was first asked in 1974.

According to the survey report, support for an “active” U.S. role has been dropping every year for the last four years. In 2020, overall support for an “active” role was 68%, and by last year it was 57%. While the Trump years actually saw a slight increase (mostly but not entirely driven by Democrats), Biden’s presidency has coincided with a significant drop. Since 2021, support for an “active” U.S. role has declined by eight points. The last time that there was so little support for an “active” role was in 1982 (54%).