American public sours on the UN

“GET IT TOGETHER OR GET OUT” is the eye-catching headline on a new poll for the conservative Hudson Institute on U.S. attitudes toward the United Nations. The poll confirms that since 9/11, Americans have become more skeptical of the global body. Fifty-two percent of respondents feel more unfavorable toward the United Nations and just 27 percent feel more favorable. Just 4 percent are much more favorable to it, which should act as a reality check to those who expect that in the post-Bolton-Bush era, the global hegemon will be sending bouquets, not brickbats to Turtle Bay.

A plurality—44 to 37 percent—feels that the United Nations generally opposes U.S. interests. Fifty-seven percent of respondents think that if the United Nations can’t be “reformed and made more effective, it should be scrapped altogether”. The poll, though, is far from all bad news for those who support greater U.S. engagement with the United Nations. A whopping 73 percent favor the United States taking a “a more active role in the UN” as it is “the best way for us to influence world affairs.”

The other people who’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results are the French. Despite the survey phrasing the question on France’s membership on the Security Council like this: “France has not been a world power for almost a century. They shouldn’t be a permanent member of the Security Council – holding a powerful veto over world and American interests,” 44 percent of respondents still disagree. One final thing worth noting: Democrats and Republicans hold nearly identical views of the global body.