Daniel Drezner wonders:
Afghanistan, Iraq, and the economic downturn have caused a lot of Americans to (understandably) grow weary of sustained engagement in other parts of the globe. If the economy turns around, a lot of attitudes about foreign affairs might become less sour.Question(s) to readers: do you think the U.S. economy is primed for an supercharged recovery? If so, how will that affect attitudes towards American foreign policy?
I'd guess that at the elite level, certain kinds of criticisms of U.S. policy would be less persuasive in the context of a robust recovery (i.e. that the U.S. is over-extended). But overall, I'm not sure that GDP growth is the most salient factor when looking at American views of foreign policy. As Justin Logan has just highlighted, partisan affiliation seems to have a major, even decisive, impact.
