Executive Summary

The crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, unanimously declared to be genocide by the US Congress in 2004, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 civilians and displaced 2.5 million people. To find out where Americans stand on this critical issue, the Genocide Intervention Network commissioned Greenberg Quinlan Rosner to survey the American public on their foreign policy priorities and their support for specific policy proposals aimed at bringing an end to the violence in Darfur.

The results show that despite the negative experience in Iraq and the predominance of Iraq and terrorism in US media and foreign policy discussions, a majority of Americans feel that the United States should take action to bring about peace in Darfur, and favor doing so in cooperation with the international community.

Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) believe taking action to stop humanitarian crisis like genocide should be a high (42 percent) or the highest (19 percent) foreign policy priority for the country. Among respondents who had heard “a lot" or “some" about Darfur previous to the poll, support climbs further to 71 percent. Sixty three percent support the use of targeted sanctions against Sudanese leaders responsible for carrying out genocide, 54 percent support denying port entry to tankers carrying Sudanese oil, 53 percent want the US to work with the International Criminal Court to bring the perpetrators to justice, and 50 percent favor direct US military action as part of an international peacekeeping force.

The survey also indicates large changes in awareness about the conflict, the result of sustained campaigns, in particular by the Save Darfur Coalition. Over half of Americans — 59 percent —now say they know “a lot" or “some" about the conflict in Darfur, compared to levels reported in 2004, when a similar question commissioned by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found only 14 percent familiar with the conflict.

Methodology

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner conducted this survey on behalf of the Genocide Intervention Network. The survey, of  1,018 adults, 18 years or older fielded December 14-17, 2006 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.

Key Findings

• 62% of Americans think doing something about a humanitarian crisis like genocide should be a high or an absolute top priority for United States foreign policy.
• A majority of Americans favor multilateral action to stop the genocide in Darfur, including freezing assets of Sudanese leaders, turning away oil tankers carrying Sudanese oil, sharing intelligence with the International Criminal Court, and even deploying troops as part of an international peacekeeping force.
• There is less support for unilateral military action on the part of the United States: 37 percent would support unilateral US troop deployment.