The Foreign Service Journal, December 2006

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 13 publicagenda.org/foreignpolicy/ foreignpolicy_intro.htm ). Mea- sured on a 200-point scale (200 being the most anxious) the Anxiety Indi- cator recorded a level of 130, denot- ing significant public discontent. Roughly 60 percent of Americans believe international relations are “on the wrong track,” with 69 percent feeling that the government is doing a “fair” or “poor” job of improving inter- national security. Respondents rank- ed the most pressing issues to be the Middle East, dependence on foreign energy and America’s image abroad (which participants saw as essential to national security). Significantly, the government received failing grades on crucial issues such as curbing nuclear proliferation and achieving our goals in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report also reveals that cer- tain issues — namely the situation in Iraq and our dependence on foreign oil — are at a “tipping point.” As the Index notes, “public concerns have reached such a high pitch that politi- cal leaders avoid [these issues] at their peril.” A second questionnaire, published by the Program on International Poli- cy Attitudes/Knowledge Networks in October, aims to answer the question, “What kind of foreign policy does the American public want?” (for the full report, see www.worldpublicopin ion.org/pipa/articles/home_page/ 262.php?nid=&i ). The poll reports the opinions of 1,058 participants. The PIPA poll paints a similarly pes- simistic picture: 68 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the U.S. position in the world today, and over half believe that the Bush admin- istration’s policies have increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks. More than seven out of 10 Ameri- cans hope for a candidate who will pursue a new approach to foreign pol- icy. Among respondents, 67 percent believe that there should be a greater emphasis on diplomatic and econom- ic methods, while only 2 percent think that the U.S. has the balance between military and diplomatic approaches about right. The majority agree that the U.S. should make stronger efforts to work with the United Nations, even if it has to forgo its first choice of policies. Participants also called for greater cooperation on both domestic and international levels, suggesting that Congress overcome bipartisan divi- sions and that the United States work toward more multilateral strategies. PIPA is a joint effort of the Center on Policy Attitudes and the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, dedicated to increasing the public’s role in for- eign policy and international relations. For more information, see www.wor ldpublicopinion.org/?nid=&id=& lb=hmpg. — Lamiya Rahman, Editorial Intern Grameen Bank: Giving Microcredit Where Credit is Due In October, the Norwegian Nobel Committee chose to honor Bangla- deshi “banker to the poor” Muham- mad Yunus and his Grameen Bank “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below” ( http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prize s/peace/laureates/2006/ ). Through a relatively simple idea, Yunus man- aged to economically empower mil- lions of poor Bangladeshis who would otherwise have no access to loans or financial services. The accolade has brought microcredit to the general public’s attention. The seeds of the Grameen Bank C YBERNOTES 50 Years Ago... An unprincipled, poker-playing foreign policy can be administered with great effectiveness by a totalitarian nation which can largely ignore public opinion. When the leaders of a democratic government attempt such a policy, they inevitably find themselves drifting out of touch with public and congressional opinion. Unable to discover any clear pattern of principles or objectives, the average citizen becomes first confused, then disillusioned, and finally antagonistic. — Chester Bowles, Letter to the Editor, FSJ , December 1956.