The majority of Americans now say they want the US to be more involved on the world stage, with support for that position having increased by 12 percentage points in the last six months, according to a new survey carried out by the Ronald Reagan Institute.
In May survey, released on Monday, 54 percent of Americans said they want the U.S. to be more involved and lead in international events, up from 42 percent in the November poll. A third of Americans said the US should “be less engaged and react to events,” the same as six months ago.
Increasing support for a more engaged foreign policy position spans across demographics groups, but is driven largely by Democrats and younger Americans.
Two-thirds of Democrats (66 percent) said they want the U.S. to be more engaged and a leader on the world stage, a 20-point increase from November. Independents also registered a notable increase, with 41 percent expressing this opinion, an increase of 15 points compared to November. A plurality of Republicans (48.5 percent) shared this opinion, a 4-point increase from November.
Researchers in Beacon Search and Shaw & Company Searchwho conducted the poll on behalf of the Reagan Institute, said Democrats’ sharper increase in support for this position is “probably because they are receiving and accepting pro-engagement messages from the Biden administration.”
The shift over the past six months is also very pronounced among younger, non-college-educated Americans.
More than half (53 percent) of Americans under 30 want the U.S. to be more involved in world events, a 24-point increase from November. Among adults aged 30 to 44, support is similar, at 54 percent, an increase of 17 points compared to November.
Half (50 percent) of Americans without a college degree support this position now, a 15-point increase from November.
According to the researchers, younger and non-college-educated Americans were more inclined to hold isolationist views in the previous survey, aligning their views primarily with mainstream views.
Since the previous poll in November, the Biden administration’s struggle to get aid to Ukraine through Congress has gained increasing prominence, with officials warning for months that Ukraine could lose the war without it.
Recent research seems to suggest that their message has gotten across.
For the first time, Americans believe Ukraine is losing the war, with 39 percent saying Russia is winning and 19 percent saying Ukraine is winning. In November, 34 percent of Americans said Ukraine was winning, compared to 31 percent who said Russia was.
At the same time, just 7% of Americans say they want Russia to win the war, compared to 59% who want Ukraine to win and 34% who don’t know or say nothing.
The survey was carried out from May 20th to 27th and had 1,257 respondents. The margin of error is +/- 2.8 percentage points.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
