While the leaders of African
countries have shown strong resistance to non-African
forces intervening in the crisis in Darfur, a
GlobeScan poll finds that in eight African countries
surveyed a majority (7 countries) or a plurality
(1 country) believe the UN should have the right
to intervene to stop human rights abuses such
as genocide, and that the UN is the most popular
force to intervene in situations like Darfur.
Likewise, a PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll finds
61% favor the UN intervening in the crisis in
Darfur, with 54% willing to contribute US troops.
Seven in ten favor NATO, including the US, providing
support to the African Union peacekeeping operation
in Darfur.
Africa Poll
The eight-nation GlobeScan poll
of 10,809 Africans (margin of error +/-2-3%) found
that overall, 65% of Africans interviewed believe
the UN Security Council should have the right
to authorize the use of military force to prevent
severe human rights violations such as genocide,
while just 19% are opposed. Support was strongest
among those in Ghana (80%), Kenya (75%), Nigeria
(66%), Tanzania (66%), Zimbabwe (65%), and Cameroon
(64%), while milder support was found among Angolans
(55%) and South Africans (47%). Opposition to
UN intervention was the highest among Angolans
(37%), but in most other countries less than one
in five were opposed.
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Africans show widespread openness
to the idea of multilateral military intervention
in their own country in the event of a conflict
“like Darfur.” When asked who they
would prefer to intervene in the event of such
a conflict, UN military troops received the widest
endorsement (30%), followed by the African Union
(22%). The idea of intervention by rich countries
acting alone was endorsed by just 5%.
Countries endorsing the UN for
this role most strongly were Ghana (48%), Kenya
and Zimbabwe (both 35%). The lowest level of support
for the UN was in South Africa (21%), but this
was still more than the number of South Africans
who preferred the African Union (12%). In three
countries, the proportion of people preferring
the AU and the UN were about the same—Tanzania
(28% and 25% respectively), Angola and Nigeria
(22% and 25% in both cases). The greatest number
of people rejecting any foreign military intervention
was in Cameroon (20%); the smallest number was
in Ghana (6%).
Awareness of the situation in
Darfur is fairly low. Just over one-third of Africans
interviewed (36%) say they have heard or read
a great deal or a fair amount about “the
conflict in the Sudan region called Darfur.”
Attitudes about whether the UN should have the
right to intervene are not significantly different
between those with higher or lower levels of awareness.
While African support for intervention
is much higher with UN authorization when it comes
to severe human rights abuses such as genocide,
Africans do not reject the idea of a country being
able to intervene even when it does not have UN
approval. In such cases, half (51%) say a country
should have the right to intervene even without
UN authorization, while three in ten (28%) disagree.
Lloyd Hetherington comments,
“Clearly Africans are looking outside their
own countries and especially to the United Nations
to help deal with some of their problems. Contrary
to their leaders, it appears that they would like
to see the UN intervene in dealing with problems
such as the crisis in Darfur, with a growing confidence
in the African Union to also take on this role.”
These findings are from a larger
annual survey of African public opinion called
“Africa in the New Century,” tracking
attitudes of Africans on key issues, with the
support of the Commission for Africa and syndicated
subscribers. The survey of 10,809 Africans from
eight countries (Angola, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya,
Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe)
was conducted between October and December 2004.
US Poll
A new PIPA-Knowledge Networks
poll of 812 Americans finds majority support for
several forms of intervention in the crisis in
Darfur. The poll was conducted June 22-26 and
has a margin of error of 3.5%.
Asked whether UN members should
“step in with military force to stop the
violence in Darfur,” 61% said that it should,
while 32% said that it should not. This support
was bipartisan: 67% of Republicans and 62% of
Democrats favored it. Independents were a bit
lower at 52%.
A majority, albeit a slightly
smaller one, also favored contributing US troops
to a multilateral operation in Darfur. Asked “If
other members of the UN are willing to contribute
troops to a military operation in Darfur, do you
think the US should or should not be willing to
contribute some troops as well?” 54% said
that it should, while 39% were opposed. Here again
support was quite bipartisan. Fifty-seven percent
of Republicans and 56% of Democrats favored contributing
US troops.
Support is even higher for providing
equipment and logistical support to the African
Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. Respondents
were told, “At present there is a peacekeeping
force in Darfur made up of soldiers from African
countries. But this force is quite weak and its
presence has not stopped the violence. The African
Union has asked NATO for equipment and logistical
support.” They were then asked, “Do
you think that NATO, including the US, should
or should not provide such help?” Seventy-one
percent said the US should, while 21% said it
should not. Here again support was highly bipartisan,
with 73% of Republicans and 74% of Democrats favoring
providing such assistance.
Steven Kull, director of PIPA,
comments, “What is quite striking here is
that even as the US is tied down in Iraq and suffering
daily casualties, a majority of Americans would
support contributing troops to a multilateral
operation in Darfur. This suggests that what is
occurring there goes against strongly held values
in the American public. Indeed, multiple polls
have found that many Americans believe that if
severe human rights abuses are occurring, especially
genocide, the UN should have the right to intervene
and the US should be willing to contribute troops.”
When the Chicago Council on Foreign
Relations in 2004 asked whether the UN should
have the right to intervene in the event of human
right abuses such as genocide—the same question
asked in the eight-nation African poll—85%
of Americans and 94% of American leaders agreed
that the UN should have the right to intervene.
Also, in the same CCFR poll, 75% favored using
US troops “To stop a government from committing
genocide and killing large numbers of its own
people.”
US public support for intervention
in Darfur may vary, depending on whether Americans
assume that what is occurring in Darfur falls
in the category of genocide. In December 2004,
when the Bush administration was stating that
genocide was occurring in Darfur, PIPA/KN asked
whether the UN should intervene with military
force “to stop the genocide in Darfur.”
Seventy-four percent said it should and 60% said
that the US should contribute troops. In light
of the UN report that determined that war crimes
and genocidal intent were occurring in Darfur,
but refrained from labeling it genocide, the present
poll presented the situation more equivocally,
referring to “large-scale violence in Darfur,
Sudan, that some, including the Bush administration,
have called genocide.” In this case support
for UN intervention was 13 points lower and support
for the US contributing troops was 6 points lower.
The poll was fielded by Knowledge
Networks using its nationwide panel, which is
randomly selected from the entire adult population
and subsequently provided internet access. For
more information about this methodology, go to
www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp. Funding for this
research was provided by the Rockefeller Brothers
Fund and the Ford Foundation. A full report and
the questionnaire can be found at www.pipa.org.
