Like it or not, Americans today are just not that interested in foreign affairs. In 1964, Pew research showed only 20 percent of the public agreed and 69 percent disagreed with the statement, “The US should mind its own business and let other countries get along the best they can on their own.” By December 2013, those who disagreed had risen to 52 percent and those who agreed had fallen to 38 percent — a 63-point shift.

If you’re looking for an issue that unites Republicans and Democrats, this is it. When asked, “Should the US concentrate more on our national problems rather than international,” the results vary almost none by party: 82 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of independents agree.

In a world of increasingly market based politics – which is just a nicer way of saying that politicians poll a lot today and need to raise vast sums of money – these sorts of numbers offer almost zero incentive for anyone to focus on international affairs. The result is that no one is willing to take risks or lead, because there is no upside to leadership. In short, if it seems like Americans don’t care much about what’s happening in the world….it’s because we don’t. And most of our politicians seem perfectly happy not to care that we don’t care.