Americans’ Goals for US Foreign Policy

The public's top priorities: protecting American jobs and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

With the US presidential election just months away, the 2024 Chicago Council Survey, conducted June 21-July 1, 2024, finds that Americans' top priorities for US foreign policy are protecting jobs at home, and preventing nuclear proliferation abroad. These two goals have been top American priorities for decades. But not everything is policy-as-usual for Americans. Shifts in partisans' views over the past two decades mean that Democrats are more likely now than in the past to prioritize other international issues, including defending human rights abroad and protecting other nations from aggression.

Key Findings

• Bipartisan majorities of Americans consider protecting American jobs (79%), preventing the spread of nuclear weapons (75%), and improving America's standing in the world (59%) to be very important goals for US foreign policy.
• Democrats also say limiting climate change (74%) and strengthening the United Nations (57%) are very important goals for the United States, while Republicans are more likely to emphasize protecting the interests of American business abroad (52%).
• Over the past decade, Democrats-but not Republicans-have become more likely to view defending weaker nations from foreign aggression and promoting and defending human rights abroad as very important goals.

Shared Priorities: American Jobs, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Global Standing

The 2024 Chicago Council Survey finds that significant majorities of Americans across party lines share three common goals for US foreign policy.

First, protecting the jobs of American workers. Since this question was first asked 50 years ago in the 1974 Chicago Council Survey, protecting American jobs has been a top priority for the American public. That continues today: eight in 10 Americans (79%), including large majorities of Republicans (89%), Independents (75%), and Democrats (74%), all view this as a very important goal for US foreign policy.

Second, preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. As with protecting American jobs, this has long been a top priority for the public in America's foreign policy. Today three in four Americans (75%) name this a very important goal, as do majorities of Democrats (83%), Republicans (76%), and Independents (67%).

Finally, roughly six in 10 Americans (59%), including similar majorities across party lines (63% Republicans, 58% Democrats, 56% Independents) say that improving America's standing in the world is a very important goal for US foreign policy.

Democrats More Focused on International Assistance, UN, Climate Change

On other potential US foreign policy priorities, the public is more divided along partisan lines. This is particularly true for limiting climate change, which is a very important goal for three-quarters of Democrats (74%) but only 14 percent of Republicans (as well as 45% of Independents, and 46% of Americans overall). Democrats (57%) are also more likely than Republicans (27%) or Independents (36%) to say that strengthening the United Nations is a very important goal for US foreign policy.

By contrast, Republicans are more likely to say that protecting the interests of American business abroad is a very important goal (52%, vs. 41% of Independents and 36% of Democrats).

Finally, while only a third of Americans say that promoting and defending human rights in other countries or protecting weaker nations from foreign aggression are very important goals, close to half of Democrats view these as very important goals, compared to three in 10 Independents and two in 10 Republicans.

Shifting American Priorities on the UN, Human Rights, and Protecting Others

Over the past five decades of the Chicago Council Survey, some goals like nuclear nonproliferation and protecting American jobs have been consistent bipartisan priorities for the American public. But other issues have risen and fallen over the years, driven by diverging priorities between Republicans and Democrats.

Strengthening the United Nations is one such example. In the Council's Cold War-era polling, between four and five in 10 Americans saw strengthening the institution as a very important goal. But following the debate over the Iraq War in 2003, support for strengthening the United Nations dropped into the high 30 percents, where it has largely remained for the past two decades. Driving that drop in support was a steep decrease among Republicans. While Democratic support remained consistent-and today is higher than in the Council's Cold War-era polling-Republican support for strengthening the UN has yet to recover from its early-2000s decline.

The goals of promoting and defending human rights in other countries, and of defending weaker nations from foreign aggression, have had more recent shifts in partisan emphasis. While neither Republicans nor Democrats saw protecting weaker nations as a very important goal in 2004-just 18 percent, a low point in the Council's 50-year-long polling trend-Democratic views have shifted over the past two decades, and especially since 2018. Today 44 percent of Democrats say this is a very important goal, compared to just 20 percent of Republicans.

Public views of the importance of promoting and defending human rights in other countries have seen a similar shift in partisan emphasis. While Democrats have historically been slightly more likely to name this issue as a very important goal, the partisan gap grew dramatically under the Trump administration.