In May, President Barack Obama delivered the commencement speech to the graduating cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point. In his remarks, he explained that his foreign policy philosophy isn’t isolationist, despite having avowed two years earlier that the US should focus on “nation-building at home.”
The President went so far as to say that – as a global leader – the US is a nation that “must always lead on the world stage.”
But his assertion appears to run counter to the perspective of many Americans, says pollster Pew Research. In a January survey, Pew found that a majority of respondents thought the US should draw the curtain on its role as global policeman. About 52% of Americans agreed that “the US should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best way they can, on their own.” Only 38% disagreed.
