Americans Are Most Willing To Help Costa Rica, Dominican Republic On Latest List of Defense Partners
The United States has defense treaties with more than 50 nations, but Rasmussen Reports is finding that most Americans aren't willing to go to bat militarily for the majority of them. Out of the latest list of nine countries we've asked about, just Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic earn the support of a plurality of adults.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of American Adults say if Costa Rica were attacked, the United States should offer military assistance to help defend the popular tourist spot. Thirty-four percent (34%) disagree, and 21% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Forty-two percent (42%) believe America should provide military aid to the Dominican Republican, Haiti's neighbor, if it comes under attack. Nearly as many (38%), however, oppose such said. Twenty percent (20%) are undecided.
At the top of the list of countries Americans are willing to help defend are Canada, Great Britain and Australia. Colombia and many of the countries carved out of the former Soviet Union are among those Americans are least enthusiastic about defending.
Costa Rica ranks just below Spain and France but is above Egypt and Greece. The Dominican Republic falls in line with Japan, Hungary and Haiti.
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on June 11-12, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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