Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
If you think that way, you probably think you’re in the minority. Actually, the people are with you, but the foreign-policy decision makers often are not. So says The Foreign Policy Disconnect: What Americans Want from Our Leaders but Don’t Get, by Northwestern University political scientist Benjamin I. Page and Chicago Council on Foreign Relations president Marshall M. Bouton. The book is based on 30 years of polling and finds that public opinion on foreign policy is surprisingly consistent and coherent, not just a random collection of contradictory or lightly held opinions.
Why is there such a big disconnect in a democracy? That might be a good jumping-off point for discussion when Page appears at Borders in Evanston tomorrow night, November 15, at 7:30.
Protecting the jobs of American workers — 85%
Improving the global environment — 66%
Reducing our trade deficit with foreign countries — 51%
Promoting market economies abroad –36%
