ABSTRACT
Public opinion in the United States is much less favorably disposed toward the use of American military force abroad than at any time since the beginning of the cold war. In part this indisposition stems from American failure in Vietnam, but it is also a result of partial East-West détente and other changes in world at large and in America as well. Nevertheless, the reasons for this change are not well understood, nor are the characteristics of present attitudes well documented. Since so many sweeping comparisons are made about the relation of "isolationism" in contemporary America to the mood prevailing in the years before World War II, it should be useful to make some systematic comparisons. Warnings against the uncritical reading of percentages from public opinion surveys are very common, and appropriate. Responses are heavily influenced by transitory factors such as question wording, salience of an issue at moment, the position by government and opinion leaders, and respondents' mood.
