Gallup Poll: Americans Back the GWOT

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

2/20/13

 

 

Andrew Jackson still lives: The American public’s foreign policy priorities look very much like something the former President would have recognized. In a recent Gallup poll, 88 percent of Americans ranked ”preventing future acts of international terrorism” as a “very important” foreign policy goal, narrowly beating out stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and supplying America’s energy needs. The bottom two by far were helping other countries develop economically and helping other countries to build democracy. Gallup boils it down:

 

(Snip)

 

With this in mind, it’s not surprising that drone strikes are more popular than the President and Congress combined. Despite the controversy in the media, the public at large sees drones as a weapon that can stop foreign terrorists in their tracks while minimizing risks to U.S. troops. And while the GWOT is no longer discussed as such in polite company, these results suggest that the American public remains concerned about Iran and the security of the Middle East.

 

One question for the future: As more people understand the new geopolitics of energy, how will Americans change their international priorities?