What do American people think about drone strikes?
Force axis · 🇺🇸 the United States · measured continuously, published only above 100 responses.
54% of American respondents take the position “It is sometimes right to kill an enemy fighter abroad.”, against 20% for “Killing someone abroad without a trial is never right.”, with 25% choosing neither. n = 116, margin of error ±9.2, weighted to the United States's adult population.
Where the United States sits on force
What is measured about the United States on this axis. These are facts about the country, not what its people think about them — that is the part of this page waiting on a sample.
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Military spending
SIPRI · 2024
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3.4% |
higher than most countries
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Homicides
UNODC · 2023
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5.8 per 100,000 |
somewhat above the middle
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Ranked against every country with a published figure for the same series. Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators, which republish UN, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, SIPRI, IISS and UNODC data.
The questions that bear on drone strikes
Asked as a forced choice between two written positions, in randomised order, with the sides flipped for half of respondents.
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A · Killing someone abroad without a trial is never right.
B · It is sometimes right to kill an enemy fighter abroad.
World, unweighted: 44% A ·
23% neither ·
33% B · n = 3948
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54% B 🇺🇸 n=116 |
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A · Watching a border with armed drones goes too far.
B · A country may use armed drones to guard its border.
World, unweighted: 36% A ·
25% neither ·
39% B · n = 1710
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🇺🇸 n=57 of 100 |
A national figure appears only once that nation clears 100 responses on the question. The world column is a raw count of every answer received and is not post-stratified — it is shown because withholding it would say less, not more.
Asked another way
The same question, as people put it.
- The united states public opinion on drone strikes
- Drone strikes poll the united states
- What do american people think about drone strikes
- What percentage of american people support drone strikes
Each has one answer on this page, and it is the same answer.