Lee Hockstader writing in the Pew Trusts Magazine says: \u00a0Between George Washington\u2019s admonition to avoid alliances with other countries and John F. Kennedy\u2019s pledge to support any friend and oppose any foe in liberty\u2019s defense, Americans have been torn over their role and obligations in the world, practically from our nation\u2019s birth. The isolationist impulse, never long dormant, has coexisted uneasily, and sometimes unhappily, with the muscular ambitions and restless idealism of a continental power whose interests and reach are formidable.<\/p>\n
After a decade of foreign wars that has sapped the nation\u2019s prestige and confidence, Americans are now in many ways more ambivalent than ever. Even as they want the nation to remain strong, well-armed, and engaged in trade and economic relations overseas, their appetite for an assertive geopolitical role is drastically diminished. Likewise, their faith in the country\u2019s ability to project power has plummeted. Even as Americans worry about the threat posed by terrorist attacks, islamic extremists, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and cyberwarfare, an unprecedented proportion of the public wants the United States to turn its gaze to domestic problems\u2014quite literally, to mind its own business.<\/p>\n
An America of two minds: That is the portrait painted by \u201cAmerica\u2019s place in the World 2013,\u201d the sixth edition of the Pew Research Center\u2019s quadrennial survey of public attitudes on foreign affairs. \u00a0 \u00a0Is America Leaving the World Behind<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Lee Hockstader writing in the Pew Trusts Magazine says: \u00a0Between George Washington\u2019s admonition to avoid alliances with other countries and John F. Kennedy\u2019s pledge to support any friend and oppose any foe in liberty\u2019s defense, Americans have been torn over … Continue reading ![\"US](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/US-Imprint-300x195.jpg\")
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