American support for United Nations continues to slip
By Ray Hanania
The United Nations is losing support among Americans, according to a new study released Tuesday by the PEW Research Center, with 37 percent of respondents concluding the country “does not benefit” from membership.
In a survey of 3,600 American adults during the first week of April, nearly 69 percent said “strengthening” the UN’s role in international affairs is not “a top priority,” while more than 51 percent said they lack confidence in the UN’s ability to provide humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.
A concurrent study on American views on 22 foreign policy issues identified the top four priorities as being: protecting the country from terrorism (71 percent); reducing illegal drugs (64 percent); preventing spread of WMDs (63 percent); and, maintaining a military advantage over other foreign powers.
“This survey tracks Americans’ opinion of long-range foreign policy priorities. We have previously asked these questions in 2018 and 2021 to get a sense of how U.S. adults’ views of foreign policy change over time. It is important because of the myriad number of international issues that are occurring right now, including the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts,” PEW Associate Director of Research Jacob Poushter told Arab News.
“It is significant that Americans are most likely to say that keeping the country safe from terrorism and reducing illegal drug flows are top priorities. On the other hand, democracy promotion and aiding refugees are not seen as top priorities. It is also interesting that limiting the power and influence of China has gone up as a priority since 2018.”
Poushter added, the surveys show, “Overall, Americans overwhelmingly want President Biden to focus on domestic issues (83 percent) rather than foreign policy (14 percent). Meanwhile, favorable attitudes towards the UN remain high among Americans, but Republicans are more skeptical of the international organization than Democrats.”
Only 23 percent of respondents identified “supporting Israel” as a priority, ranking 20th on the list although finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict received a slightly higher response of 29 percent. In comparison, support for Ukraine drew 24 percent although 50 percent of respondents said they support “limiting the powers of Russia.”
“Fewer than half of Americans say dealing with global climate change (44%) and getting other countries to assume more of the costs of maintaining the world order (42%) are top priorities,” the report concludes.
“Overall, a majority of Americans say that all 22 long-range foreign policy goals we asked about should be given at least some priority. Still, about three-in-ten say supporting Israel (31%), promoting democracy in other nations (28%) and supporting Ukraine (27%) should be given no priority.
“Even with these priorities, 83% of Americans say it is more important for President Joe Biden to focus on domestic policy, compared with 14% who say he should focus on foreign policy. In 2019, 74% wanted then-President Donald Trump to focus on domestic policy, and 23% said he should focus on foreign policy.”
The number of Americans who believe the U.S. benefits from UN membership has dropped from 66 percent in 2022 to 60 percent today, according to the surveys.
The survey also shows a disparity between what older and younger Americans believe in the two studies.
“Americans ages 65 and older prioritize most of the issues asked about at higher rates than those ages 18 to 29. On four issues, there is at least a 40-point gap between the oldest Americans and young adults,” according to a PEW summary of the study.
“Older adults are more likely to prioritize reducing the flow of illegal drugs, limiting the power and influence of China and Iran, and maintaining a U.S. military advantage. Young adults are more likely to say dealing with global climate change, reducing U.S. military commitments overseas, and promoting and defending human rights in other countries should be top priorities in U.S. foreign policy.”
The exhaustive survey results also show a larger number of Americans, 17 percent, support “limiting the power and influence of China” while a larger number of Americans, 11 percent, see a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict “should be a top foreign policy” priority.
Having the White House focus on “domestic issues” over “foreign policy” concerns continues to grow as one of the nation’s most important priorities. In this survey, an overwhelming 83 percent said President Joe Biden should focus on domestic issues rather than on foreign policy concerns, which is slightly higher than the 79 percent who in a 2019 survey believed then President Donald Trump should focus on domestic over foreign issues.
The survey also shows that a deep divide continues to exist in America’s politics between the Republicans and Democrats. Democrats are nearly twice as likely to support defending Ukraine while Republicans (48 percent) believe supporting Israel is a higher priority than Democrats (18 percent).
The survey is significant because the United States, which is a founding member of the UN and host for its headquarters in New York City, remains the largest donor of the 193 member nations providing more than $18 billion in 2022 or “one third of funding for the body’s collective budget.”
The United Nations employs more than 125,430 people throughout the world with nearly 35,000 at its New York headquarters, a complex that occupies 2.5 million square feet on 5 city blocks in New York City with a 40-story Secretariate Office Tower built in 1952.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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