Business Wire, Jan 23, 2009 pNA
2-to-1 Majority of Americans Favor Obama Meeting with Iranian Leaders, but only 1-in-3 Favor Sending More U.S. Troops to Afghanistan.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2009 Business Wire
New Financial Times/Harris Poll examines U.S. and European attitudes to key foreign policy issues
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Most Americans feel very positively about President Obama, but that does not mean they support everything he says he plans to do. A new Financial Times/Harris Poll finds that they support his positions on some foreign policy issues but not on others. The poll, which covers not just the United States but also the five largest European countries, measures public attitudes on some of the key foreign policy issues facing the new president.
A 46% to 30% plurality of Americans is opposed to the president's plan to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. On other hand, a 65% to 35% majority of Americans supports meeting with Iranian leaders, something he has said he would consider. The poll also finds Americans to be split on continuing the embargo on Cuba: 35% favor continuing it, 22% oppose it while fully 42% neither support nor oppose it.
These are some of the findings of a Financial Times/Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive[R] among a total of 6,299 adults (1,000 or more in each country), aged 16-64, within France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States and adults (aged 18-64) in Italy between 8 and 15 January 2009.
In Europe, there is no public consensus on whether to send more of their troops. Substantial numbers of people (60% in Germany, 57% in Britain, 53% in Italy, 53% in France, and 45% in Spain) are opposed to sending more of their troops to Afghanistan. And these numbers are probably influenced by the extraordinary popularity of the new president ("European Reactions to President Obama Overwhelmingly Positive". January 22, 2009), with many more people now wanting their countries to support President Obama and the United States than wanted to support President Bush's policies.
Other interesting findings include:
* In Europe, majorities (61% in Britain, 51% in France) or pluralities (50% in Germany, 43% in Italy and 32% in Spain) are "neutral" on whether or not President Obama should continue the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Most Europeans with opinions on the subject think the U.S. should end the embargo.
* The international financial and economic crisis is by far the dominant issue that people think President Obama should address. By wide margins, many more people (from 58% in the U.S. to 35% in Germany) mention this crisis than mention any other issue on his agenda.
* Most people in the United States (77%), Britain (77%) and France (71%) think Britain and France should keep their seats on the U.S. Security Council. Most people in Italy (70%) and Spain (58%), and 49% in Germany, think they should give up their seats and be replaced by a single European Union seat.
* Very large majorities of adult Europeans, from 84% in Italy to 68% in Germany, agree with the 65% of Americans who think President Obama should meet with Iranian leaders to discuss Iran's production of nuclear weapons.
* Majorities in all the five European countries, from 75% in France to 58% in Britain think President Obama should place less emphasis on the "war on terror" than did President Bush. Americans are split 45% to 45% on this.
So What?
Many Europeans indicate by their replies to this survey that they are hoping that President Obama's foreign policies will be different from President Bush's policies, for example, on talking to Iran or ending the embargo on Cuba. President Obama's astronomical popularity in Europe will make it easier for him to request and receive support from Europe. However, this popularity does not mean that Europeans give, or will give, his policies unconditional support.
Methodology
This FT/Harris Poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,299 adults (aged 16-64) within France (1,021), Germany (1,107), Great Britain (1,071), Spain (1,007) and the United States (1,066), and adults (aged 18-64) in Italy (1,027) between 8 and 15 January 2009. Figures for age, sex, education, region and Internet usage were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology are available at www.harrisinteractive.com.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls and of the British Polling Council.
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Harris Interactive Inc. 1/09
Congrats to Iran for launching its first satellite carrier.
Posted by: b | February 03, 2009 at 02:29 PM