Forty-one percent (41%) of U.S. voters worry that America’s preoccupation with the ongoing economic crisis will make us more vulnerable to a terrorist attack, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

But 43% disagree and say it’s not a concern while 16% are not sure.

Forty percent (40%) also say America has more enemies than friends among the nations of the world, although 44% say we have more friends.

Voters are closely divided, too, over whether the current worldwide economic crisis is more likely to create tension between the United States and other nations or more likely to foster cooperation. Forty-four percent (44%) see more tension to come, while 43% expect greater cooperation between America and other countries.

Confidence in how America is doing in the War on Terror dropped dramatically in late February, but it is not yet clear whether the numbers are a statistical blip or a reflection of recent news developments.

Iran continues to be the country the plurality of voters (35%) expect to be the first to seriously test the Obama Administration. Nineteen percent (19%) say North Korea will be the new president’s first major threat, while 12% predict China. Eight percent (8%) say Russia will be the first serious challenger, but one-out-of-four voters (25%) are not sure which country is the greater threat.

In a survey just after the election, voters said terrorists and Iran were most likely to provide President Obama with his first international test in office.

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Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters say the United States should continue to participate in the United Nations, but 24% disagree.

A majority of voters (53%) rate Obama’s performance on national security issues as good or excellent, while 28% think he’s doing a poor job in this area. These numbers remain largely unchanged since Inauguration Day (see crosstabs).

Republicans are clearly more fearful than Democrats. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of GOP voters say America’s focus on the economy puts us more at risk from a terrorist attack, but 57% of Democrats disagree. Voters not affiliated with either party are almost evenly divided on the question.

Similarly, 62% of Democrats say the current economic crisis is more likely to encourage cooperation between the United States and other nations, while 60% of Republicans expect more international tension to arise. Unaffiliated voters by eight points say more tension is likely.

Pluralities of Republicans (44%) and Democrats (45%) say America has more friends than enemies in the world, but unaffiliateds again are almost evenly divided.
Eighty-one percent (81%) of Democrats give the president good or excellent marks in terms of national security, a view shared by 44% of unaffiliated voters and just 23% of Republicans. Most Republicans (51%) say Obama is doing a poor job, as do 30% of unaffiliateds and only eight percent (8%) of his own party.

Democrats are also the biggest supporters of continued U.S. participation in the United Nation. The plurality of Republicans (48%) think America should stick it out in the international body, but 84% of Democrats feel that way, along with 61% of unaffiliated voters.

Just 31% of Americans had a favorable opinion of the United Nations in a survey in September 2006.

Most U.S. voters believe it is better for the rest of the world to become more like the United States rather than for America to become more like them.

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