Americans Want to Pull Back From World Stage

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds that “Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs even as a showdown with Russia over Ukraine preoccupies Washington.”

“In a marked change from past decades, nearly half of those surveyed want the U.S. to be less active on the global stage, with fewer than one-fifth calling for more active engagement–an anti-interventionist current that sweeps across party lines.”

“The poll showed that approval of President Obama’s handling of foreign policy sank to the lowest level of his presidency, with 38% approving, at a time when his overall job performance drew better marks than in recent months.”

Richard Haass:
“American foreign policy is in troubling disarray. The result is
unwelcome news for the world, which largely depends upon the United
States to promote order in the absence of any other country able and
willing to do so. And it is bad for the U.S., which cannot insulate
itself from the world.”