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2.2.5 Roles of the UN and the US
The desire of the American people to give the UN a lead role in
global security, ahead of the US, came from a question asked three times
in March ‘91, June ‘91, and June ‘95. In the latter two instances, ATI
also asked a follow-up question which clarified the difference in the
roles of the UN and the US that people desired. The people’s choice is
really quite ingenious, for it handles in a reasonable fashion all
situations of potential conflict between the UN and US on whether a
response to aggression is required. Here is a case of the statistical
wisdom of the people.
The initial question was stated as follows: "When faced with future
problems involving aggression, who should take the lead, the US or the
UN?" The follow-up question was, "If the UN refused to take the lead and
a dictator was pursuing aggression against another country, what should
the US do: take the lead, wait for other nations to act, or stay out of
it?" The responses are shown in Table 1 ranked by the preference of the
public. The rank order has not varied at all over the years.
|
ATI Surveys |
#28 |
#16 |
#15 |
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Four Policies |
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|
69% |
80% |
85% |
|
54% |
62% |
n.a. |
|
28% |
17% |
11% |
|
20% |
13% |
n.a. |
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Table 2. Who Should Take the Lead |
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In the more recent survey, ATI #28, the overwhelming
preference is for policy 1, the UN to take the lead, not quite the
consensus it was four years earlier, but still a substantial majority,
while those who say policy 3, the US should take the lead is still
clearly a minority.
In ATI #28 the sample was split on this question-set and
instead of "Who should take the lead?," a half-sample was asked "Who
should be the policeman to the world?" The "policeman-to-the-world
phrase was tested, in part because it had crept into discussions and was
increasingly used as shorthand in public forums. With the new phrase,
the margin siding with the UN grew (to 76%, up from 69%) and with the US
dropped (to 19%, down from 28%).
The public is making an entirely sensible distinction.
Being "policeman," implies much more responsibility than simply "taking
the lead." The overwhelming majority of Americans who would personally
have to do the hard and dangerous work the job implies by four to one
say, "Let the UN handle it." The people don’t worry about the UN
dropping the ball. That is taken care of by the US back-up position.
| >>> 2.2.6 When Americans Favor the Use of Force |