In middle-income nations, most say the U.S. interferes in other countries’ affairs

Majorities in 16 of 17 middle-income nations say the United States interferes in the affairs of other countries a great deal or a fair amount, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 42,151 adults across 36 countries conducted in early 2026 [1]. The survey, fielded between February 8 and May 13, 2026, found that in 12 of those nations roughly three-quarters of adults or more held this view [1]. Thai adults were the most likely to say the U.S. interferes, at 81% [1]. India was the only country where this opinion was held by a minority, though Indians were still more likely to say the U.S. interferes than to say it does not, 47% to 30%, with another 23% not answering [1]. A large majority of Americans, 83%, also say their own country interferes in the affairs of other nations [1]. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to hold this view, but majorities in both parties agree that the U.S. interferes at least a fair amount [1]. This was the only one of four questions about America's global role on which partisans aligned [1]. The survey defined middle-income nations using World Bank lending groups [1]. The United States remains the world's largest economy by nominal GDP, generating 26% of global economic output, and the U.S. dollar serves as the world's foremost reserve currency [6]. The nation is also the world's largest importer and second-largest exporter, with its largest trading partners including Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, and Germany [6]. In several countries, younger adults were more likely than older adults to say the U.S. interferes. In Mexico, 79% of adults ages 18 to 34 held this view, compared with 63% of those 50 and older [1]. Men were more likely than women to say the U.S. interferes in 13 of the 17 middle-income countries surveyed. In Ghana, 66% of men said the U.S. interferes, while 56% of women said the same, and women were twice as likely as men not to respond to the question [1]. The findings are part of a larger Pew Research Center report focused on views of the United States and its president [1]. The U.S. has maintained a highly developed, diversified market-oriented economy since the end of World War II, a conflict in which the United States was one of the "Big Four" Allied powers alongside the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China [5][6].