ABSTRACT
Public opinion has been of longstanding interest to students of international politics and foreign policy (Almond 1960). Public opinion can constrain decision-makers' ability and willingness to act in foreign affairs (Abravanel and Hughes 1975; Russett 1972; Kegley and Wittkopf 1979). Most empirical research on public opinion and foreign policy has been in a Western context (Richman 1979; Cohen 1973), but as more and more countries worldwide retreat from single-party systems and closed political activity, public opinion has taken on greater significance. The same is true for the countries formerly in the Soviet bloc. Even in democratic societies public opinion affects policy indirectly through governing elites, elections, and the media (Nincic 1990; Wittkopf 1987; Wittkopf and Dehaven 1987).
