As the world continues to face increasing global challenges, understanding and harnessing the power of the American people in support of US national security is crucial.

Through its newly commissioned survey and research, How Americans View America’s Role in the World, Spirit of America is providing a fresh assessment and understanding of public support for America’s international role and the actions Americans favor the most.

This study offers an insightful and hopeful perspective: the American public is largely united in its desire for the US to play a major or leading role in the world to foster safety, stability, and prosperity. It reveals broad consensus on key priorities, including supporting our troops, supporting allies to prevent conflicts, and fostering a more personal commitment to helping people worldwide.

The survey data represents interviews among 2,500 registered American voters over the age of 18 and was conducted in October 2024 by YouGov and Dreyfus Advisors.

Other key insights include:

Consensus: 72% of Americans believe the US should play a leading or major role in world affairs.

Conflict Prevention: 86% of Americans want the US to work with its allies to prevent conflict, and strong agreement (81%) exists as well for US troops serving overseas to foster goodwill with local populations.

Instability Concerns: Americans are most concerned about threats abroad that could create instability, with the highest concerns being the rising cost of living (groceries and gas) and cyberattacks.

American Pride: 86% of Americans say they are supportive of US troops and 80% say they are proud to be American.

For more detailed findings, download the full report, How Americans View America’s Role in the World

Research Methodology

The survey of 2,500 Americans over the age of 18, conducted in October 2024 by YouGov and Dreyfus Advisors, interviewed 3,218 registered voters in the United States, who were then matched down to a sample of 2,500 to produce the final dataset. The respondents were matched to a sampling frame on gender, age, race, and education. The sampling frame is a representative “modeled frame” of US adults, based upon the American Community Survey (ACS) public use microdata file, public voter file records, the 2020 Current Population Survey (CPS) Voting and Registration supplements, the 2020 National Election Pool (NEP) exit poll, and the 2020 CES surveys, including demographics and 2020 presidential vote.