Chapter 1 > Refocused Internationalism after 9/11 > Vulnerable and Alert

U.S. Report - pdf version Leaders Questionnaire - pdf version Public Questionnaire - pdf version

Vulnerable and Alert

After 9/11 Americans feel the direct and immediate threat of terrorism. An overwhelming 91% of Americans identify terrorism as a critical threat to U.S. vital interests, the highest level for any threat in this or the previous three surveys in which the question was asked. The terrorist threat has heightened America's sense of vulnerability to related threats, particularly weapons of mass destruction in the wrong hands (see Chapter 2 for further discussion of threats).

Americans are reacting to the newly felt threat of terrorism with a combination of vulnerability and alertness. When we asked our respondents an open-ended question about what they see as the most important lesson of 9/11, the most frequent answers were clustered around feeling vulnerable, needing to be alert and prepared,
wanting to increase security and togetherness, and needing more information (see Figure 1-5).

Accordingly, Americans are more attentive to what is happening outside their borders than ever before in the Chicago Council surveys. Rebounding after a steady decline in attention to international and even national news, the percentage of respondents who say they are very interested in news about other countries has jumped from 29% in 1998 to 42% in 2002 (see Figure 1-6). The percentage who say they are very interested in news about the relations of the United States with other countries has risen sharply from 45% to 62%. Only 7% say they are hardly or not at all interested in the news. The interest in national news has also increased dramatically, from 47% in 1998 to 62% in 2002.