The portion of respondents who believed that the public wanted to cut defense was quite small approximately one in five. Most cited budget concerns as the driving reason and the desire to protect social programs. Response to Deep Cuts Respondents were asked how Americans would respond if the presi- dent and Congress together decided to cut defense spending by 10 to 20 percent. Nearly half thought the public would object to such a decrease, while only a small minority thought they would favor it. Just one in five took the position that the public would accept deep cuts to the defense budget.
Defense spending remains very popular . . .
Others put the primary emphasis on the economic dimension. This helps explain what may seem like a contradiction between the public's desires to have the United States stop playing the worId's policeman and cut its defense spending and support for the United States to continue to protect its global interests and maintain its commitments to other countries. This desire for a more multilateral approach to security is demon- stratect in numerous poll results. Sixty-nine percent preferred contributing to a UN military action, compared to 24 percent who preferred U.S. action alone. In the November 1995 PIPA poll, respondents showed strong support for putting more emphasis on relying on other countries to maintain U.S. commitments to protect other countries.