Americans see US in decline

For the first time in 40 years, a
majority of Americans say the US
plays a less important and powerful
role in the world than it did a decade
ago.
The Pew survey also found that 70%
of Americans saw the US as less
respected than in the past, nearly the
same (71%) as under President
George W Bush.
More than half of Americans (52%) -
for the first time in 50 years - said
the US should "mind its own
business".
Some 56% disapproved of President
Barack Obama's foreign policy.
Fifty-three percent of the public felt
the US played a less important or
powerful role as a world leader than
a decade previously. The last time
more than half of the public held that
view was in 1974.
A decade ago, just 20% of Americans
felt the same way.
International disengagement
In Tuesday's survey, only 17% of
Americans said the US had a more
important or powerful role in world
affairs than 10 years ago.
Republicans were more likely to view
the US as having declined in
influence - 74% of them thought so.
But 55% of independents said the
same thing, up from 23% in 2004.
The survey also showed support for
a less active US in world affairs.
Some 51% of respondents said the
US does "too much" to solve world
problems.
Fifty-three percent of Republicans,
46% of Democrats and 55% of
independents said the US should
mind its own business.
The public also thought the US
should be less engaged
internationally.
A plurality of respondents (39%)
believed the US should be less
involved in seeking to resolve the
Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Some 36% thought Washington's
current level of engagement in that
issue was enough.
But the survey did not suggest an
entirely isolationist outlook was
taking hold among Americans.
US support for more participation in
the global economy has increased, it
found.
Some 77% said the growing trade
and business ties between the US
and other countries was a good
thing.
However, there was a mistaken belief
among many that China is the
world's top economic power - 48% of
respondents thought so. Just 31%
correctly said it was the US.
America's gross domestic product is
nearly twice that of China, according
to World Bank data, although the
gap between the two has been
closing.
President Obama's foreign policy
was approved of by only 34% of
respondents in the Pew survey.
The public overwhelmingly viewed
dimly his handling of Syria, Iran,
China and Afghanistan. Only on
terrorism did more respondents
approve (51%) than disapprove of
his approach.
While Islamic extremist groups such
as al-Qaeda were still considered
the top threat by survey respondents,
70% ranked cyber-attacks from other
countries as a major threat, placing
them on par with concerns about
Iran and North Korean's nuclear
programmes.
The survey of the general public was
conducted between 30 October and 6
November among 2,003 adults, said
Pew Research Center.