More Australians in favor of becoming independent middle power than U.S. ally: poll

CANBERRA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- More Australians believe the nation should aim to become an independent middle power than primarily an ally of the United States, a poll has found.

Published by the online Australian edition of British newspaper The Guardian on Tuesday, the poll found that 38 percent of Australians said the country's role in global affairs should be as an independent middle power.

Twenty-five percent said the nation should do its best not to engage in world affairs and 17 percent were unsure.

The poll found that 63 percent of Australians described themselves as concerned about Israel's military action in Gaza. Thirty-seven percent of Australians said Israel should withdraw permanently from military action in Gaza, twice as many than 18 percent who supported it continuing.

Two thirds of participants in the poll said they believed the world is either very or somewhat divided and 10 percent described it as united.

Sixty-eight percent agreed that global instability makes trade more expensive and 57 percent said it would undermine efforts to solve problems including climate change.