How do young people want their countries to act on the world stage?

NEWSFLASH: Younger people think differently about politics than their elderly counterparts😱. That’s according to a new report from Pew Research, which conducted more than a dozen focus groups with 18-to-29-year-old adults in France, Germany, the US, and the UK.

And despite different histories and current political climates, Pew identified four distinct attitudes about how best to engage with the world. These were consistent across all four countries.

1. Right-leaning and internationally engaged: These folks view global cooperation as benefiting their country’s interests, and want to be seen as international leaders in diplomacy and/or military strength.
2. Right-leaning and domestically focused: This group thinks it’s better to focus on issues at home than to send resources abroad, and also strongly believe their country should strive for self-sufficiency.
3. Left-leaning and domestically focused: These young folks feels a moral obligation to help overseas, but they prioritize “getting their own house in order” before focusing attention elsewhere.
4. Left-leaning and internationally engaged: This group emphasizes their country’s moral duty to be involved internationally, but also doubts whether they can trust the government to be effective or to get involved for the right reasons.

🇺🇸 Closer to home: Decades of international surveys have found that younger adults around the world tend to be more supportive of international cooperation than older folks. But Pew discovered the opposite is currently true in the US – young people are more likely than older folks to say America should prioritize solving domestic problems over being active in world affairs.