Americans are increasingly concerned that ISIS represents a direct terror threat, fearful that ISIS agents are living in the United States, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll. Most now support military action against the terrorist group. CONT. Mark Preston, CNN Read more »
Syria’s Neighbors Want Assad to Step Down, But No Appetite for Aid to Rebels
After three years of civil war, Syria’s neighbors fear that al Qaeda or other extremist groups could take control of that war-torn land, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Regional publics widely disapprove of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and they want him to step down. Nevertheless, […] Read more »
Whatever Obama does on Iraq, it won’t be easy — or popular
Barack Obama established his political bona fides with his early rejection of the Iraq war as a little-known Illinois state senator. And that position arguably propelled him through the 2008 Democratic primary and on to the presidency. But now the rapidly deteriorating situation in Iraq bears almost nothing but political […] Read more »
The prudent, not isolationist, public
There’s a lot of hue and cry these days about the American public turning isolationist, seeking to retreat from the world. That, though, is both a misreading of the polls and, frankly, reflects a too-readily dismissive view of what pioneering pollster Elmo Roper once called “the common sense of the […] Read more »
Is Attacking Obama’s Foreign Policy a Winning Strategy?
… The GOP’s difficulty with exploiting public discontent with Obama’s handling of foreign policy is that the president’s unwillingness to be more assertive in Syria or Ukraine reflects the public’s mood—including Republicans. In Obama’s words, “Frankly, most of the foreign policy commentators that have questioned our policies would go headlong […] Read more »
Is Obama a ‘Reverse Reagan’?
… George Edwards, an expert on presidents and public opinion at Texas A&M University, says that Obama has become, in a sense, a Reverse Reagan. President Reagan’s policy views were seen at the time as out of step with the mainstream, but he transcended that. “When Reagan ran for reelection […] Read more »