Ahead of the final presidential debate in Florida next week, Republican nominee Mitt Romney has significantly cut into Barack Obama's lead over foreign policy issues and now trails within 4 points of the incumbent US president, a latest poll show.
On the question of who can do a better job making wise decisions about foreign policy, 47% of voters favor Obama and 43% Romney, said the Pew Center which carried out the national survey between October 4 and 7.
"This represents a substantial gain for Romney, who trailed Obama by 15 points on foreign policy issues in September. Romney gained on several domestic issues as well, including the deficit and jobs. Romney holds a nine-point lead over Obama on dealing with China's trade policies (49% to 40%). Among independent voters, Romney holds a 16-point advantage (50% to 34%)," Pew said.
The survey finds increasing public pessimism about developments in the Middle East and more support for tough policies to deal with Iran's nuclear program and economic issues with China.
However, there is no change in the consensus in support for ending US military involvement in Afghanistan, the report said.
Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57%) do not believe the changes in the Middle East will lead to lasting improvements for people living in the affected countries, up sharply from 43% in April 2011, it said.
And a majority of Americans (54%) continue to say it is more important to have stable governments in the Middle East, even if there is less democracy in the region.
Just 30% say democratic governments are more important, even if there is less stability, Pew said.
On dealing with other issues, Iran's nuclear program and political instability in countries like Egypt and Libya, neither candidate has a clear advantage.
A separate survey finds that the public is divided over the Obama administration's handling of last month's terrorist attack on the US consulate in Libya, which killed US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
"About four-in-ten (38%) Americans disapprove of the Obama administration's handling of the deadly terrorist attack on the US consulate, while 35% approve. About a quarter (27%) express no opinion," the report said.