How Do Foreign Policy Decisions Affect Local U.S. Communities?

Four in 10 U.S. adults think foreign policy issues should be a top priority for the United States government in 2024

By Carnegie Corporation of New York July 11, 2024

From improving climate data collection and surveying ethnic and racial divides on foreign policy to the risks to local communities of upgrading 450 land-based nuclear missile silos, Carnegie Corporation of New York grantees look at the domestic impact of foreign policy.

Four in 10 U.S. adults think foreign policy issues should be a top priority for the United States government in 2024, according to an AP-NORC poll. This is double the number reported in 2023. Meanwhile, for the first time in its 16-year history, the Council on Foreign Relations’ 2024 Preventive Priorities Survey finds that the top conflict to watch in 2024 is not a foreign threat but the possibility of domestic terrorism and acts of political violence in the U.S., particularly around the 2024 presidential election.

With growing concerns about foreign policy issues and U.S. democracy, we invited five Carnegie Corporation of New York grantees — experts in the field of international peace and security whose foreign policy projects look at domestic impact — to respond (in approximately 100 words or fewer) to the question: How do foreign policy decisions affect local U.S. communities?

Alexandra Guisinger

Associate Professor, Temple University | @alexandraguisinger.bsky.social

Our project — Foreign Policy in a Diverse Society — explores how Americans perceive and engage with foreign economic policy. Many politicians have emphasized policies to support the American manufacturing sector and its workers via increased import restrictions and employment assistance for trade-affected workers. In a July 2023 survey of 3,000 Americans, we found a substantial ethnic and racial divide in expectations of these policies’ benefits. Whites were far more likely to perceive that these policies would generally help their communities than other racial/ethnic groups and almost a third of Black respondents expressed concern that the policies would hurt their community.

Lillian Mauldin

Founding Board Member, Women for Weapons Trade Transparency | @w2t2impact

U.S. foreign policy decisions affect local communities every day in myriad ways. When the federal budget prioritizes investments in war and violence over investments in housing, education, transportation, and other critical infrastructure, U.S. residents experience threats and harms to their safety, well-being, and quality of life. Subsequently, spending on the export of weapons abroad generates militarization domestically as articles from drawdowns and excess equipment are sold or transferred to police departments through channels such as the 1033 and 1122 programs. U.S. lawmakers must be held accountable to their constituents’ needs — exporting violence does not serve them.

Sébastien Philippe

Research Scholar, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University | @seb6philippe

The United States’ decision to enhance its nuclear arsenal, as part of managing its strategic competition with Russia and China, carries significant risks for communities across the country. For instance, the U.S. is upgrading 450 land-based nuclear missile silos, each one designed to serve as a target for incoming enemy nuclear warheads. The idea is by raising the scale of a potential nuclear attack on American soil, it hopefully becomes too big to contemplate. However, this strategy turns areas surrounding deployment sites into sacrifice zones, putting local communities at deliberate risk of devastation and long-term contamination should an attack occur.

Jon Temin

Vice President of Policy and Programs, Truman Center | @JonTemin

If foreign policy was once the sole purview of Washington, those days are long gone. Issues ranging from climate change to managing migration to global democratic backsliding directly impact the local level because they represent transnational threats and opportunities that cannot be contained to capitals. The challenge, however, is that too often, foreign policy decision-making is not informed by inputs from local leaders — and lack of diverse inputs produces policies that don’t address local needs or capture good ideas originating outside Washington. Fixing this dynamic will yield better policies, and citizens will increasingly see their views reflected in foreign policy.

Martin Wainstein

Executive Director, Open Earth Foundation | @martinwainstein

Foreign policy decisions, including environmental actions like commitments to a 1.5°C world, can profoundly affect local U.S. communities. Initiatives to combat climate change can generate jobs, stimulate economic growth through a transition to a green economy, and influence global environmental standards. Furthermore, U.S. foreign policy has cultural ramifications; it can shape public perception and attitudes, potentially influencing levels of xenophobia, racism, or individualism within local communities. By setting an example internationally, U.S. foreign policy can sway domestic and global consciousness toward more sustainable and inclusive values.