A Gallup survey conducted shortly before the U.S.-Iran conflict began found that majorities of Americans supported the U.S. taking on a significant role for global affairs but were pessimistic about the country’s global standing.
The survey, conducted Feb. 2-16, discovered that 21% of respondents said the U.S. should take a leading role in solving international problems and 43% said it should play a major role. Both Republicans and Democrats agreed that the U.S. should play at least a major role on the global stage (73% and 67%, respectively), but Republicans were twice as likely as Democrats to say the U.S. should take the lead (30% vs. 14%).
Nearly four in 10 Americans were satisfied with the U.S.’s global position, while just over six in 10 were not. According to Gallup, satisfaction has fluctuated over the past 25 years under various presidential administrations, hitting a low of 30% in 2008 under former President George W. Bush and rising to 53% in February 2020 under President Donald Trump. Satisfaction dipped again under former President Joe Biden and increased slightly in the current administration.
Americans’ satisfaction with the country’s global position was largely partisan. Eighty percent of Republicans said they were satisfied with the U.S.’s global position, compared with just 7% of Democrats — a 73-point gap, the widest Gallup has recorded since 2000.
Gallup also asked about the U.S. military and national defense, finding that half of Americans say U.S. defense is “about right,” while 31% believe it is not strong enough and 17% say it is stronger than necessary. Slight majorities of both Republicans and Democrats believed the country’s defense is about right.
A majority of Americans (59%) said the U.S. military is the best in the world, though 39% said it is one of several leading military powers. Republicans were significantly more likely than Democrats to view the military as the top global power (81% vs. 45%).
While most Americans (64%) said it is important for the U.S. to remain the world’s largest military power, they are less supportive of acting alone. About 65% said the U.S. should not intervene in international crises without allied support, compared to 27% who said it should.
Republicans were significantly more open to acting alone than Democrats (48% vs. 8%). According to Gallup, the 2026 reading contrasts sharply with responses from 1998, when 77% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats said the U.S. should not pursue military action without its allies’ support.
Gallup discovered that Americans’ perceptions in 2026 of how the U.S. is viewed internationally are generally negative and align with ratings given during the Iraq War. Forty percent of Americans believed the U.S. is viewed very or somewhat favorably around the world, but 59% said the U.S. is viewed unfavorably — one of the highest ratings ever recorded.
Finally, Gallup asked respondents about their views on the U.S. economy, finding that only one in four say the U.S. is the top economic power and about half saying it is important for the U.S. to be the most powerful in the world economically.
Gallup reported that the developing war in Iran will likely change Americans’ perceptions of the U.S., surmising that “the coming months could either bolster perceptions of U.S. strength and leadership or deepen existing skepticism.”