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Contact: Natalie La Balme - +33 1 47 23 48 36 - GMF Christopher Whitney -(312) 821 7516 - CCFR EUROPEANS BELIEVE U.S. FOREIGN POLICY CONTRIBUTED TO 9/11 But Landmark Survey Shows Europeans and Americans Share Similar Views of the World WASHINGTON, D.C., September 4, 2002— One year after the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil, 55% of Europeans believe that U.S. foreign policy is in part to blame for the September 11 attacks on America. But a slightly larger majority (59%) of Europeans believe U.S. conduct since the attacks aims to protect the U.S. from further terrorist attacks, rather than to enforce its will around the globe (26%). At the same time, the most comprehensive survey ever of European and American foreign policy attitudes finds that both publics look at the world in similar ways. Europeans from six nations and Americans were asked to evaluate threats to their country’s national security over the next 10 years, and the same threats – international terrorism, Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction, and Islamic fundamentalism – ranked high on both lists. Large majorities of Europeans and Americans support the use of military force to combat terrorism, with 75% of Europeans and 92% of Americans ready to use troops to wipe out terrorist camps. Worldviews 2002, a massive survey of how more than 9,000 Europeans and Americans look at the world and at each other after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., was undertaken by The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CCFR) and the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). “Despite reports of a rift between U.S. and European governments, our survey finds more similarities than differences in how the American and European publics view the larger world,” said Craig Kennedy, president of GMF. “There is fundamental agreement regarding friends, enemies, and the need for both the European Union and the United States to play cooperative roles in world affairs.” “The convergences of opinion across the Atlantic are striking,” adds Marshall Bouton, president of CCFR. “Americans feel a great sense of vulnerability after 9/11 and are supporting with new vigor an active, multilateral foreign policy. At the same time, Europeans share Americans’ concerns about issues like terrorism, Iraq, and weapons of mass destruction, and are prepared to use force to combat them”. Both Europeans and Americans are critical of certain aspects of US foreign policy Europeans are critical of certain aspects of US foreign policy, but so too are Americans. Only 38% of the Europeans view the Bush administration’s overall handling of foreign policy as “excellent” or “good”, while 56% say it is “fair” or “poor”. Europeans give the administration low marks for its handling of the Arab-Israeli conflict (20% rate it as “excellent” or “good”) and the situation in Iraq (21%). But the marks it receives from Americans on these issues are only slightly higher (33% “excellent” or “good” for the Arab-Israeli peace process and 32% for the situation in Iraq.) Europeans would support multilateral attack on Iraq Contrary to recent press reports, the publics on both sides of the Atlantic have very similar concerns regarding Iraq. Both publics regard Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction as a top international threat. Europeans and Americans also view Iraq very unfavourably. Most strikingly, 60% of the Europeans and 65% of the Americans questioned say the U.S. should only invade Iraq with UN approval and the support of its allies. When presented with various scenarios for a U.S. attack on Iraq, Europeans’ support for their country’s participation is most heavily influenced by the presence or absence of a UN mandate. Europeans want to be a superpower Europeans appear ready to take on a stronger world role. When asked if the United States should remain the only superpower or the EU should become a military and economic superpower like the United States, 65% of European respondents opt for the latter. The French (91%) and Italians (76%) are the most supportive of this notion, with the Germans (48%) the most cautious. Of those desiring the European Union to become a superpower, 9 out of 10 indicate they support this as a way for Europe to better cooperate with the United States, not compete with it. A majority of those who would like the EU to become a superpower would support increased defence spending if necessary to attain this status. Europeans as willing as Americans to use force Europeans are often berated by American leaders for spending too little on defence and putting too much faith in economic and diplomatic tools. However, the survey shows that, at least in principle, Europeans are willing to use troops or force in a broad range of circumstances—though they give higher priority to international and humanitarian goals than Americans. For example, 88% of Europeans support the use of troops to help a population struck by famine (vs. 81% of Americans), 80% to uphold international law (vs. 76 %), 78% to liberate hostages (vs. 77%). ### Sponsoring Organizations This is the first time The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and The German Marshall Fund of the United States have conducted a joint survey. It is based on the quadrennial survey of U.S. attitudes on foreign policy conducted by the CCFR since 1974. The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations is one of the largest independent, nonprofit international affairs organizations in the United States. The Council provides members, specialized groups, and the general public with a forum for the consideration of significant international issues and their bearing on American foreign policy. The Council's goal is to further awareness and broaden understanding of international relations and foreign policy. The German Marshall Fund of the United States is an American institution that stimulates the exchange of ideas and promotes cooperation between the United States and Europe in the spirit of the postwar Marshall Plan. GMF's programs promote the study of international and domestic policies, support comparative research and debate on key issues, and assist policy and opinion leaders' understanding of these issues. Worldviews 2002 Methodology The European survey consists of telephone interviews (except in Poland, where the face-to-face method was used) with representative national samples of 1,000 men and women, 18 years of age or older, in each of six countries—Great Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland. The U.S. survey consists of 3,262 interviews (2,862 by telephone and 400 face-to-face) comprising a representative national sample of American men and women, 18 years of age or older. The surveys were conducted by Harris Interactive in the United States and by MORI in Europe, with the fieldwork for both surveys begun on June 5 and completed July 6 in Europe and July 10 in the United States. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is +/- 3 percentage points for each European country and varies between 2 and 4 percentage points for the United States. The U.S. survey has been conducted every four years since 1974. # # #