Top 10 Foreign Policy Concerns of Americans
In the United States, there is a distinct difference on top foreign policy concerns between Democrats and Republicans. This chart uses data from Morning Consult to assess the top policy concerns of Americans.
The Top Concerns
Overall, the average American is most concerned about terrorism, immigration, and drug trafficking. Interestingly, this list corresponds with the concerns of the average Republican, though falling in a different order.
Meanwhile, Democrats are chiefly worried about climate change, another global pandemic, and terrorism.
Notably, the concern around U.S.-China relations ranks considerably low, as does preventing disinformation. Upholding democracy worldwide ranks extremely low with Republicans.
America’s Foreign Policy
Along party lines, the results are not surprising. Democrats skew towards multilateralism and want to engage with foreign bodies and other countries to tackle global issues. Republicans are generally more concerned with what’s happening at home.
Looking at the country as a whole and its relations with other nations, however, Americans lean more towards an America-first focus. According to Morning Consult, 39% of registered voters want to decrease U.S. involvement in other countries’ affairs, whereas 20% want to increase it; 30% want to keep the status quo.
Dataset
Overall Rank with Americans | Foreign Policy Concern | Share of Voters Listing it as a Top Concern | Share of Democrats Listing it as a Top Concern | Share of Republicans Listing it as a Top Concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Terrorism | 49% | 38% | 62% |
#2 | Immigration | 43% | 22% | 67% |
#3 | Drug trafficking | 43% | 30% | 59% |
#4 | Cyberattacks | 39% | 35% | 40% |
#5 | Climate change | 38% | 54% | 17% |
#6 | Preventing a global economic crisis | 32% | 33% | 31% |
#7 | Securing critical supply chains | 30% | 27% | 34% |
#8 | Preventing another global pandemic | 30% | 38% | 22% |
#9 | Russia's invasion of Ukraine | 27% | 33% | 21% |
#10 | Protecting human rights globally | 25% | 31% | 18% |
#11 | Preventing disinformation | 24% | 29% | 21% |
#12 | U.S.-China relations | 24% | 19% | 31% |
#13 | Iran nuclear deal | 21% | 19% | 24% |
#14 | Upholding democracy globally | 15% | 22% | 8% |
Data sources
Data notes: This ranking is made using the share of registered U.S. voters who identified the given issue as a top 5 concern for the country. For example, only 30% of registered voters said securing critical supply chains was a top 5 concern which is why it’s #7, whereas 43% said immigration was a top concern, ranking it at #2.