The Nation : More in U.S. Hopeful on World Peace

An increasing number of Americans are hopeful about the prospects for world peace, according to a Gallup poll that found 30% of Americans believe 1989 will be free of international disputes. In last year’s survey, 20% predicted that 1988 would be a year of peace internationally. For the first time this decade, the proportion of Americans predicting peace outweighs the proportion predicting discord, 30% to 19%, while 47% believe the international situation will remain relatively stable. One year ago, the proportion predicting a more troubled year, 25%, exceeded the 20% who foresaw a reduction in international tensions. During this decade, Americans were most pessimistic in their predictions for 1984, when a majority of 55% expected a troubled year. The survey of 1,008 adults has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.