Younger adults continue to be much less likely than older adults to place importance on the United States taking an active role on the world stage. 39% of adults ages 18 to 29 and 44% of those 30 to 49 say it is extremely or very important that the U.S. play an active role in world affairs. By comparison, 59% of those 50 to 64 and 73% of those 65 and older say the same.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how the United States public views the country’s role in international relations.

For this analysis, we surveyed 10,357 U.S. adults from Nov. 17 to 30, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, presidential vote (among voters) and other factors. Read more about the ATP’s methodology.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.