Foreign policy makers 635One reason that foreign policy does not always mirror public opinion was discussed
in Chapter 11: most politicians have political goals other than winning reelection,
including affecting some aspect of American relations with other nations. For example,
President Obama favored admission of Syrian refugees and ordered American forces
to intervene in the Syrian civil war with air strikes, arms shipments, and military
assistance, although a strong majority of the American public favored different
policies (some Americans wanted a more aggressive effort, while others favored
disengagement). Given the public’s opposition, it is hard to square Obama’s policy
choices with the goal of mirroring public opinion. A better explanation is that Obama
acted in accord with his own conception of what America’s foreign policy should look
like. This is not to say that public opinion was irrelevant to Obama’s choices (as in
the case of Syrian refugees, for example), but it is not the only (or even the decisive)
factor shaping policy choices. The same is true for President Trump. His decision to
end admissions of Syrian refugees, as well as the ongoing debate within the executive
branch over assistance to Syrian rebel forces, reflects the opinions of Trump and his
advisers, not a shift in public opinion.
The final reason that American public opinion is not decisive is that many
Americans know little about other countries. A case in point occurred during the 2014
conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine: a survey asked Americans to
locate Ukraine on a map.^43 The results are shown in Figure 17.1. Although two-thirds
of respondents said they were following the situation in Ukraine “very closely,” only
16 percent of respondents were successful in locating Ukraine. Most people knew
Ukraine’s location only approximately, and a significant percentage were wildly
wrong. More recent surveys confirm this impression—for example, a 2016 survey
found that most college-educated adults incorrectly identified China as America’s
largest trading partner (the correct answer, Canada, was picked by only 10 percent of
respondents).^44
Americans are more likely to pay attention to foreign policy news or concerns
following an important event. Thus, six months after the September 11 attacks, one
poll found that Americans rated preventing future attacks a higher priority thanFIGURE
1 7.1Where’s Ukraine?
These data reveal a marked lack
of geographic knowledge among
Americans. Despite the considerable
media attention given to Russia’s
annexation of a portion of Ukraine, in a
2014 survey only a small fraction could
locate Ukraine on a map (more accurate
dots are red; less accurate dots are
blue). What might explain this lack of
geographical knowledge?Source: Kyle Dropp, Joshua D. Kertzer, and
Thomas Zeitzoff, “The Less Americans
Know about Ukraine’s Location, The More
They Want U.S. to Intervene,” April 7, 2014,
http://www.washingtonpost.com (accessed 8/5/14).Full_18_APT_64431_ch17_614-654.indd 635 16/11/18 11:21 AM