(Image via Pew Research Center)
In the face of global threats such as Islamic extremism, Americans have grown wary of international involvement.
According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, most Americans (57 percent) want the U.S. to let other countries deal with their own problems.
In addition, 41 percent say that the U.S. does “too much” in terms of solving issues abroad.
Support for defense spending is also on the rise, especially among Republicans.
“Public support for increased defense spending has climbed to its highest level since a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when 50% favored more defense spending,” Pew reports.
(Image via Pew Research Center)
“Currently, 35% say the U.S. should increase spending on national defense, 24% say it should be cut back and 40% say it should be kept about the same as today. The share favoring more defense spending has increased 12 percentage points (from 23%) since 2013.”
The percentage of Republicans who favor higher defense spending rose to 61 percent, a 24 percent increase from 2013.
(Image via Pew Research Center)
According to the study, Americans are not only skeptical of global involvement, but many also view the U.S. as a less dominant world leader than it was a decade ago.
“Nearly half (46%) say the United States is a less powerful and important world leader than it was 10 years ago, while 21% say it is more powerful, and 31% say it is about as powerful as it was then,” writes Pew.
“The share saying the U.S. has become less powerful has declined since 2013, from 53% to 46%, but is among the highest numbers expressing this view in the past four decades. These attitudes also are divided along partisan lines: Republicans (67%) remain more likely than independents (48%) or Democrats (26%) to say that the U.S. has become less powerful and important.”