For the past ten years, a bi-partisan team of pollsters have collected data on American attitudes towards the United Nations. Now, according to the latest survey released this week the UN’s favorability ratings among American voters is now at an all time high.
The survey, which was conducted during the first week of June, demonstrated that over two-thirds of US voters have a favorable image of the United Nations.
As you can see from the data, American support for the UN has been trending upwards in recent years and according to the polling data this is driven in part by increased support for the UN among some key demographics. “Looking at those sub‐groups with much more favorable views of the UN from December 2016 to today, those who shifted most on their favorable image were: Retired voters, stay at home moms, women ages 35‐54, White women, women college+, women ages 55+, Generation X voters (ages 39‐54), opinion elites, suburban women, and soft/lean Democrats,” says a summary of the findings.
As in previous years, partisan affiliation strongly correlates with voter’s views of the UN, with large majorities of Democrats have favorable views of the UN, a majority of Independents and a slight plurality of Republicans.
The poll comes as senators are considering the nomination of US Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations. During her confirmation hearing, Ambassador Craft expressed generally positive views of the United Nations and of the ability of the United States to partner with the United Nations on key global issues. At one point, Ambassador Craft cited the strong working relationship between the United States and Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “The Secretary-General has made UN reform a top priority and I can’t imagine a better teammate for reform than Antonio Guterres,” she said
This new poll indicates that her views are broadly representative of the opinion of the American electorate as a whole. It also suggests Americans in general prefer a productive working relationship between the US and the UN.
You can view the full polling data here.