"Have Americans Turned Inward?" By Bruce Stokes, Special to CNN

[applegrove]

Have Americans Turned Inward?

By Bruce Stokes, Special to CNN

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/07/have-americans-turned-inward/

"SNIP..........................................

Romney’s downplaying of foreign policy appears more in line with voter concerns this election season. Roughly eight-in-ten (83 percent) Americans now believe that the United States should pay less attention to problems overseas and concentrate on problems at home, according to an April Pew Research Center survey. Such isolationist sentiment is up 10 percentage points since 2002. And, for the first time, it is higher among Republicans (86 percent) than among Democrats (80 percent). But, in a sign of the partisan nature of this shift, while Democratic isolationism has fallen seven points in the last five years, it has risen 19 points among the GOP.

Going into the 2012 presidential election campaign, just 9 percent of Americans said they thought the president should focus on foreign policy concerns, 81 percent said he should preoccupy himself with domestic issues. Just five years ago, in 2007, 40 percent of the public put international issues at the top of their presidential agenda.

This domestic preoccupation is reflected in voters’ attitudes toward specific items on the next president’s international agenda.

Six in ten Americans think the president should remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible, according to an Pew Research Center survey in April. This includes 66 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents. Republicans are split – 48 percent supported removal and 45 percent backed keeping the U.S. troops in Afghanistan, possibly one reason Romney failed to mention the war in his acceptance speech.

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[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Compared to what?

Americans have pretty much ALWAYS been incredibly insular. Look at any major US TV news show or for that matter 24/7 news network; how much of the focus is international vs domestic? And in US newspapers? Asking if Americans have "turned inward" presumes they weren't facing there to begin with.

[applegrove]

2. That's true but after 9/11 there was interest in the middle east. And the 'coalition of the willing'

Now I guess it is back to normal. Though I would say that on CNN and the NYTimes I do see more american coverage of Canadian News. Both are widely viewed in Canada.