Foreign policy is the official means by which governments pursue their goals and interests outside of their home countries. It is a broad set of strategies that can include anything from diplomacy to military intervention. It involves making decisions about what countries and organizations to support, which issues to tackle, and how to deal with crises and conflict. It encompasses a host of activities from negotiating treaties to deploying peacekeeping troops. Foreign policy is the domain of all national leaders but it is particularly crucial for a president. Great leaders like General George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower have both served as diplomats and military commanders.
Many people believe that their country’s leadership should be active in global affairs and that it is a moral duty to help countries with less resources than their own. Others, however, question whether the country’s leaders always act for the right reasons or that there are costs and trade-offs involved in engaging in these efforts.
Moreover, there are significant differences in the priority that different parties give to different issues. For example, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to prioritize supporting Israel and Ukraine. Previous Center research has shown that liberal Democrats place greater importance on military aid to these countries than moderate and conservative Democrats do.
Across 24 countries, majorities in most regions say that their country should take other countries’ interests into account when making international decisions. This sentiment is strongest in the United States, where 65% of liberals – but only 30% of conservatives – say that their country should always consider other countries’ interests.