Public Agenda Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index

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The Economy: Shaping Perceptions of Foreign Policy

The war in Iraq has dominated foreign policy attitudes, and for several years it’s been the public’s major concern overall. But in historic terms, it’s certainly more usual for domestic affairs, and particularly the economy, to dominate. Given the events of the past few months—the subprime mortgage crisis, the prospect of a recession, record gas prices—it’s no surprise that the economy is outpacing Iraq in most surveys. Yet while it’s common to look at the shift in emphasis between the economy and foreign policy, the Index provides insight into how the economy shapes perceptions of foreign policy itself.

The war in Iraq is still considered to be the most important foreign policy problem facing the United States today. But that concern has dropped six points in six months, back to 2006 levels. By contrast, the economy, an issue that barely registered as a foreign policy problem (a mere three percent of the population mentioned it in Fall 2007) rose eight points. That puts it on par with terrorism, which has been at about 10 percent since 2007.

Even more significantly, other economic-related themes show up strongly in this edition of the report. Besides the cost of fuel, the number who worry “a lot” that the United States may owe too much money to other countries rose nine points in six months, to 40 percent. More than half of those surveyed, 53 percent, say they worry “a lot” about protecting American jobs from moving overseas. That’s an eight-point increase over a year. But the number who say the government can do “a lot” about protecting jobs from going overseas has stayed stable, at 43 percent, while nearly three-quarters (74 percent) continue to say it’s unrealistic to expect U.S. companies to keep jobs here when labor is cheaper elsewhere.

Attitudes have also become more negative about international trade. In previous rounds of the Index, the public showed great uncertainty over the benefits of trade—fully half said they were unsure who benefited more from trade, the United States or other countries, compared with about one-third who thought other countries benefited more. Now roughly as many say other countries benefit more (42 percent) as are unsure (41 percent). Only 14 percent think the United States benefits more from trade.