In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it was clear that 9/11 had a profound impact on the American mood. Americans had been shocked by their own vulnerability to unconventional and faraway threats. Almost as immediately, U.S. relationships with old allies and friends as well as former enemies and nations in which we thought we had little stake were seen in a new light.
This was the context in which The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations began in late fall 2001 to plan its 2002 study of American public opinion. The Chicago Council determined it was unusually well positioned to examine in 2002 whether in fact the world had changed in the minds of Americans, and if so, how. The Chicago Council studies comprise the longest series of surveys of American public and leader opinion on the international affairs and U.S. foreign policy ever conducted.