Poll shows partisan differences on the policy of US' engagement with the rest of the world.
There is partisan divide on this issue among Americans: Democrats, at 69 percent, are more likely than Republicans, 46 percent, to say the US should cooperate fully with the United Nations. And Republicans or independents who sympathize with the Tea Party are even less likely to want the US to work closely with the UN. Looking forward, 50 percent of Democrats want to strengthen the UN, but only 25 percent of Republicans agree and just 12 percent of Tea Party adherents would strengthen the multilateral body.
Championing human rights abroad, helping improve living standards in developing countries and promoting democracy also rate as relatively low priorities for the American public. Promoting human rights in other countries is a top foreign policy goal for just 33 percent of the American public. While low, this support is actually up from the 24 percent who prioritized human rights in 2011. Again there is a partisan divide: 41 percent of Democrats, but just 27 percent of Republicans and 19 percent of Tea Party adherents see human rights as a top priority.
Helping boost economies in low-income countries has never been high on Americans’ to-do list. Nor is it today. Only 23 percent make helping improve the living standards in developing nations a high priority. This includes 32 percent of Democrats, 13 percent of Republicans and just 6 percent of Tea Party sympathizers.
Nearly three years after the enthusiasm surrounding the wave of revolutions known as the Arab Spring, 63 percent of the polled Americans say stable governments are more important in the region, even if there is less democracy. Fewer chose stability over democracy earlier – 52 percent in 2011 and 54 percent in 2012. Just 28 percent say democracy is more important than stability in the Middle East. While the balance of opinion among all partisan groups is in favor of stable governments, Democrats are more likely than Republicans and independents to endorse democracy over stability; 39 percent of Democrats say democratic governments are more important, compared with 25 percent of Republicans and 23 percent of Tea Party sympathizers.
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/americans-want-turn-away-world’s-problems
Not very surprising to see republicans/tea party want our foreign policy to focus on "what's in it for me". The UN, human rights, living standards in poor countries, democracy over stability all get poor marks from conservatives.