New polling shows how younger vs. older Americans view the United States and its place in the world. Plus: Gaza cease-fire talks stall, and why is Kenya leading the mission to restore order in Haiti?
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Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
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1. Most American millennials and Gen Z-ers don’t believe in US exceptionalism
There is a major generational divide in how Americans think of the United States and its place in the world, according to a survey released on Monday, with younger people not believing in U.S. exceptionalism and thinking that the U.S. should stay out of global affairs.
The poll, conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, showed that most Americans from the Silent Generation (72%), Baby Boomers (65%), and Generation X (55%) believe the United States is the greatest country in the world.
By contrast, most millennials (59%) and Gen Z-ers (65%) say the United States is no better than other countries.
Similarly, the Silent Generation (75%) and Baby Boomers (67%) think the U.S. should take an active part in world affairs. Generation X is less convinced on the matter, with just 54% of respondents supporting an active role, while millennials and Gen Z-ers are both evenly divided, with 50% in favor.
“Every generation’s foreign policy outlook is affected by what they’ve experienced,” says Lama El Baz, a research assistant at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and author of the report.
“Older generations saw successes in World War II, whereas younger gens have seen wars in the Middle East and more tumultuous internationalism.”
The survey was conducted in September 2023 among 3,242 adults living in the U.S.
Visit the Council website for the full survey results.
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2. Why is Kenya leading the mission to restore order in Haiti?
Days after laying siege to Haiti’s two largest prisons, allowing thousands of inmates to escape, armed gangs are now trying to take over the main airport in Port-au-Prince. They say their goal is to overthrow the government and keep Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning.
Henry, who assumed the role of prime minister in 2021 after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, signed a deal with the Kenyan government in Nairobi on Friday to deploy 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti.
His whereabouts are currently unknown.
The signing of the deal doesn’t legalize the deployment of the officers, however.
In October 2023, the U.N. Security Council approved an international policing mission to Haiti led by Kenya, but a Kenyan court deemed the deal unconstitutional in January, as it didn’t include reciprocity from Haiti.
The current agreement is being called “bilateral,” but it’s unclear whether or not it will satisfy the Kenyan court’s previous objections.
Several countries have agreed to help in the mission — including Benin, which has offered 2,000 troops — but why is Kenya taking the lead? Experts say that, with this deployment, Kenya hopes to be seen as a global ally willing to help other countries.
“On the global stage, sending its forces to Haiti gives Kenya a very serious political capital,” Dismas Mokua, a Nairobi-based analyst, told Al Jazeera in October.
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3. Gaza cease-fire talks stall as Ramadan deadline looms
Hamas negotiators remained in Cairo for a third day on Tuesday in the hopes of securing a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip before the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins next week. An Israeli delegation isn’t in Cairo, but is being kept informed on the negotiations.
Israel is asking Hamas to provide a list of 40 elderly, sick, and female hostages who are among the 240 taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 and who would be the first released as part of a temporary cease-fire deal. Washington insiders say they don’t know what’s keeping Hamas from providing the list.
Both Hamas and Israeli officials say they’re waiting on the other to respond to their cease-fire proposals.
At Monday’s meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. received harsh criticism for having repeatedly vetoed Security Council resolutions for a cease-fire.
During the same session, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said that Israel was intentionally undermining the organization, making it difficult to deliver life-saving aid to the Palestinian people.
Sixteen donor countries to the UNRWA, including the U.S., suspended their funding after Israel’s accusations emerged that a dozen UNRWA employees had taken part in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Read on Blue Marble how the U.S. has used its power in the U.N. to support Israel for decades.
In other Israel-Gaza news:
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In other news
- Closing the gender pay gap could double the rate of economic growth across the globe over the next decade, according to a report released on Monday by the World Bank. [Le Monde]
- A far-left activist group has claimed responsibility for a suspected arson attack that left a Tesla factory outside of Berlin without power. “These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X. [BBC]
- Too hot: This year’s Canadian wildfires could be even worse than last year’s record-breaking fire season, which burned tens of millions of acres of forest and sent huge plumes of smoke into the U.S. [The New York Times]
- Staying cool: For three years, a youth-led Kenyan startup has used plastic trash to make freezers that run by solar power. The freezers help solve two problems at once: They minimize food loss and clean up plastic. [Africanews]
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Say that again
“When it comes to showcasing my business online, internet access has done most of it, 80% of it. Without the internet, we won’t be able to do any of those things,” says Ann Ajufoh, a Nigerian e-commerce entrepreneur.
A 2023 report from the World Bank says that internet access reduced extreme poverty in Nigeria and Tanzania by 7%. The World Bank also says that women in sub-Saharan Africa have less access to the internet than men. [VOA News]
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‘We were basically trapped inside our apartment’
Meet a mother who was visiting family in Khartoum with her 3-year-old daughter when fighting broke out in Sudan last year.
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What we’re listening to
The other day while cruising around Radio Garden, an interactive website that lets you tune into radio stations from all over the world, I heard this very chill number on the air in Rio de Janeiro: “Inteiro Metade” off of São Paulo act Tagua Tagua’s 2020 album of the same name.
The whole album from Tagua Tagua, a.k.a. Felipe Puperi, is great — recommended if you like Sam Evian and/or sitting in a bean bag chair/generally chilling out.
Puperi will appear at this year’s SXSW on March 15.
—Laura Adamczyk, staff writer
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow.
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