Kyle Anzalone: An Increasing Number of Americans See Foreign Policy as a Top Issue

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By Kyle Anzalone, Libertarian Institute, 1/2/24

According to a new poll, the number of voters who view foreign policy as a top issue has doubled during the past year. Joe Biden has defined his presidency by waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, backing the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, and engaging in a military buildup in the Asia-Pacific to fight a future war with China. 

The Associated Press survey found, “About 4 in 10 US adults named foreign policy topics in an open-ended question that asked people to share up to five issues for the government to work on in the next year.” Last year, only 18% of Americans said foreign wars were a top issue. 

About 20% of Americans are concerned about overseas wars, up from five percent. Five percent of Americans mentioned the Israel war in Gaza. Four percent named the war in Ukraine, down from six percent in the previous year.

President Biden is struggling in recent polling. Two demographics that Biden won in 2020 now prefer Trump. A USA Today poll found Trump at 39% ahead of Biden at 34% among Latino voters. The trend was repeated among young voters who preferred Trump, 37%, to Biden, 33%.

Younger voters are the most likely Americans to object to President Biden’s support for the Israeli war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. As the Israeli military operations in Gaza indiscriminately kill and starve Palestinian civilians, more Americans are protesting Biden’s support for Tel Aviv. The President has recently been confronted with chants of “Genocide Joe.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Biden has been more involved regarding Israel than any other issue and the White House has no plans to place conditions on the weapons sent to Tel Aviv for use amidst its brutal war. 

“Biden has involved himself more intensely in the conflict than almost any other issue in three years in office,” the outlet reports. “But there is no serious discussion inside the administration of a meaningful change in policy, like cutting off the arms supply to Israel. Instead, Biden remains determined to navigate the crisis within the crisis by using the credibility he earned through steadfast support of Israel to shape its next chapter.”

4 thoughts on “Kyle Anzalone: An Increasing Number of Americans See Foreign Policy as a Top Issue”

  1. I wouldn’t put too much into this poll. Americans in general are not terribly sophisticated when it comes to understanding the world around them. They also tend to blow with whatever wind is whistling between their ears. If Biden gets his knickers in a twist over Ukraine or Gaza, a certain percentage of his compatriots will simply shrug and agree. Ignorance is not a prerequisite to swallowing the party line, but it helps.

  3. The Associated Press survey found,

    Unfortunately a survey isn’t much of a poll. Even proper poll taking has become an archaic art mired in bad practice, like a number of firms depending on landline phones. Here, AP, may have taken the survey from readers of “Diplomacy Today”. Most days any poll without a direct pecuniary interest, like detergent marketers wanting to know what words sell, is going to find the answer it is paid to find.

  4. It is only natural for Americans to object to bombing innocent women and children in Gaza. Who but a psychopath would encourage genocide?

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