For the first time in nearly 40 years, most Americans believe their country’s influence is on the decline and that the United States wields less global power than it did a decade ago.
A majority also believes for the first time that America should “mind its own business,” while faulting President Barack Obama for his foreign policy, especially over Syria. The findings are the result of a Pew Research Centre poll of some 2,003 people carried out in conjunction with the Council on Foreign Relations between October 30 and November 6.
“For the first time in surveys dating back nearly 40 years, a majority (53 per cent) says the United States plays a less important and powerful role as a world leader than it did a decade ago,” the centre says in its report. That finding is up 12 points from 2009 and has more than doubled since 2004, during the administration of then president George W Bush. Seventy per cent of those surveyed also said the United States commanded less respect than it did in the past, matching levels seen towards the end of Bush’s second term. Foreign policy, which was once seen as one of Obama’s strengths as he sought to repair the battered US image abroad, was also sharply criticised.