Chapter 4 > International Cooperation > Overview

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

Overview: International Cooperation

A fear sometimes expressed around the world is that the United States will use its extraordinary military and economic preeminence to impose American hegemony over the globe. As discussed in previous chapters, Americans support an active role for the United States and are willing to use military force for a variety of purposes, especially in the fight against terrorism. The U.S. public, however, resists the idea of the United States playing a hegemonic role in the world. Americans do not automatically want their country to turn to the use of military might to enforce its will abroad. Instead, most Americans tend to look first to diplomatic approaches and to seek out multilateral solutions to international problems. While there is little evidence of devotion to the abstract idea of international law, in a broad range of specific cases Even with regard to the war on terrorism, support for nonmilitary instruments based on multilateralism and diplomacy is as strong as for military approaches.