The survey also revealed some serious gaps in the knowledge base of Americans following foreign policy. For example, although 78 percent of respondents claimed to “closely” follow international affairs, an equal 78 percent said they had “never heard” of Ban Ki-moon when asked about him.
When those surveyed were told that Ban was the secretary-general of the United Nations, 41 percent of respondents still had no idea who he was.
It’s actually an interesting survey, done by the Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates on behalf of the United Nations Foundation. It also finds fairly strong support for the U.N. among Americans (60% had a positive view; 30% were unfavorable). Of course, much of this is due to recent disasters and the U.N.’s well-reported humanitarian effort responses.
Also:
But in a blow to Bono and a boost to North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, only 40 percent of respondents said they would support spending an additional 1 percent of the U.S. budget on foreign assistance, with 55 percent opposed.
Which I guess is pretty funny, considering adding an additional 1% of the budget for foreign assistance would be in effect doubling the U.S. government foreign assistance budget.
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