Publications on Global Attitudes/Foreign Affairs

This section features selected Pew Research Center reports (since 2005) on international public opinion and U.S. public opinion on national security and other foreign policy issues. Individual project websites contain more reports related to this topic. In particular, the Pew Global Attitudes Project website contains international public opinion data drawn from more than 100,000 interviews in more than 50 countries. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press contains reports and analysis related to U.S public opinion on foreign policy issues. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life provides survey research, demographic reports and other publications related to religion in the world.

Global Media Celebrate Obama Victory -- But Cautious Too
A Changed View of American Democracy
13 Nov 08"GOBAMA!" gushed Britain's Daily Mirror the day after Barack Obama's electoral victory. Other newspapers around the world were scarcely less enthusiastic but notes of concern and discord were also registered.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Xenophobia on the Continent
30 Oct 08A growing minority of citizens in several European countries holds unfavorable opinions of Jews. Negative views of Israel, sympathy with the Palestinian cause, rising anti-Americanism, and a backlash against globalization and immigration all play a role in this trend.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Trickle-Down Global Economics: World Already Saw U.S. Influence as Negative
7 Oct 08Well before the current economic crisis circled the globe, publics worldwide were well aware that U.S. economic conditions affected their own economies. Most -- including the U.S. itself -- viewed that influence in a negative light.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Support for Global Engagement Declines
Even as Optimism About Iraq Surges
24 Sep 08The public's top long-term foreign policy goals are decidedly America-centric. Defending the country against terrorism, protecting U.S. jobs, and weaning the country from imported energy all draw extensive bipartisan support.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

A New Leader for a Chronically Gloomy Japan
22 Sep 08Even if international financial markets were thriving, it is likely that the selection of Taro Aso as the new leader of Japan's ruling party would still have played out against a backdrop of national apprehensiveness and pessimism.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Unfavorable Views of Both Jews and Muslims Increase in Europe
17 Sep 08Publics that view Jews unfavorably also tend to see Muslims in a negative light. However, the trend in negative views toward Muslims in Europe has occurred over a longer period of time than recently growing anti-Semitic sentiment.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

The Media's Olympics
25 Aug 08The Olympic Games trailed only the presidential race for media attention during their two-week run. There was little competition over who was the star of the show: Michael Phelps' coverage dwarfed all other American athletes.
Project for Excellence in Journalism

Party Time: Democrats Primed To Tune Into Convention
21 Aug 08More Americans are interested in following the Democratic Convention (59%) than the Republican Convention (48%). An overwhelming majority of Democrats (79%) plan to follow their party’s convention. However, those who favored Hillary Clinton express only modest interest in Obama’s speech and strong interest in her address.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

China Olympics Earn American Attention, Approval
Scant Attention to War in Georgia
14 Aug 08Most say they are watching at least some of the Olympic coverage and the share saying it was a good decision to hold the games in China has risen 11 points to a 52% majority. Americans also remain optimistic that by the end of the games, the U.S. will have won more gold medals than any other country.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

An Enthusiastic China Welcomes the Olympics
5 Aug 08Publics around the world are showing signs of apprehension about China's growing economic power, its role in foreign affairs and the safety of the products it exports; but the Chinese people are confident that the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing will change the way their country is viewed.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

No Longer in the News, Earthquake Survivors Face a Painful Recovery
5 Aug 08Media focus in China turned away weeks ago from the May 12 earthquake to the Beijing Olympics, but a journey through the heart of the destruction reveals the immense task faced by the people of Sichuan, already poor, to recreate their lives.
Pew Internet & American Life Project

The Chinese Celebrate Their Roaring Economy As They Struggle With Its Costs
Optimism About Beijing Olympics Is Nearly Universal
22 Jul 08
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Obamamania Abroad: The Candidate Can Expect a Warm Welcome in Europe, Not So in the Middle East
16 Jul 08By all accounts, Barack Obama will be enthusiastically greeted when he travels to Europe. But his trip will take him into less friendly territory in the Middle East where Muslims remain skeptical about the future of U.S. foreign policy, regardless of who is elected in November.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

U.S. Traveler Advisory: Where in the World Is the Welcome Mat Still Out?
2 Jul 08The United States has lost much of its global popularity in recent years. Yet trip planners will be glad to know that recent surveys show that the countries that Americans are most likely to visit are, for the most part, countries that like Americans.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Gas Prices Pump Up Support for Drilling
Support for Conservation and Environmental Protection Declines, More Favor Drilling in ANWR
1 Jul 08Americans are giving higher priority to more energy exploration, rather than more conservation; concern about the environment fades as support for ANWR drilling rises.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Assessing Globalization: Benefits and Drawbacks of Trade and Integration
24 Jun 08Enthusiasm for economic globalization has waned considerably over the last few years in many wealthy nations, but survey research suggests that most average citizens around the world embrace the idea of a globalized world, albeit cautiously.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Lessons from the 2008 Pew Global Attitudes Survey
19 Jun 08Pew Research Center president Andrew Kohut, New York Times columnist David Brooks and Foreign Policy editor Moises Naim discuss findings and implications of the new survey.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

More See America's Loss Of Global Respect As Major Problem
A majority of Republicans now say U.S. is less respected, up 12 points since August 2006
16 Jun 08Seven-in-ten Americans -- now including a majority of Republicans -- see the loss of international respect for the nation as a major problem.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Global Economic Gloom -- China and India Notable Exceptions
But Many Publics Expect U.S. Foreign Policy to Improve Under Next President
12 Jun 08Although views of the U.S. remain negative, and many now worry about the US economy's impact on their nations, the U.S.'s favorable ratings have increased modestly since 2007 in 10 of 21 countries with comparative data. People around the world are following the U.S. election closely - and in most places surveyed, express greater confidence in Obama than in McCain.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Tracking China's Earthquake on TV and the Internet - Part II
19 May 08In a second dispatch, our Beijing correspondent reports that Chinese TV is back to being the voice of the government. Meanwhile, the internet has become a more wild-west version of itself, with a virtual explosion of content that runs the gamut from informative to creative, irresponsible, angry, maudlin…
Pew Internet & American Life Project

Tracking China's Earthquake on TV and the Internet
16 May 08While the internet proved to be a faster and more varied source of news about the disaster, Chinese television reports have shown an unprecedented absence of censorship: "The faces in these productions tell everything. The soldiers are young; the grief is raw; the eyes are desperate."
Pew Internet & American Life Project

The Plight of Iraq’s Religious Minorities
15 May 08Since 2003, sectarian violence, ambiguous legal protections for religious freedom, and other factors have contributed to a deteriorating situation for Christians and other small religious sects.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Religion in China on the Eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics
7 May 08A watching world may find religious belief unexpectedly widespread in a communist country.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

All the World’s a Stage
5 May 08Iraq, the war on terrorism, support for Israel and other key features of U.S. foreign policy continue to generate animosity toward America in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere. On the bright side, America seems to be winning the battle of ideas on some important fronts and improving U.S. image problems is not impossible.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Where Trust is High, Crime and Corruption are Low
Since Communism's Fall, Social Trust Has Fallen in Eastern Europe
15 Apr 08A Pew Global Attitudes survey finds that social trust varies greatly among countries, but high levels are generally linked to positive social outcomes.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Most Americans Unfamiliar with Petraeus, Rice Remains Popular
4 Apr 08On the eve of his congressional testimony on Iraq, a solid majority (55%) says they do not know enough about the top U.S. commander in Iraq to offer an opinion of him. Sec. of State Rice's favorability (56%) remains relatively unchanged since March 2005.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

America's Catholics Occupy a Unique Place in the World of Religion
1 Apr 08U.S. Catholics occupy something of a middle ground between their more religious fellow Catholics in the developing world, and the less devout of Europe.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Few in China Complain About Internet Controls
27 Mar 08Many Americans assume that China's internet users are unhappy about their government's control of the internet, but a new survey finds most Chinese say they approve of internet regulation, especially by the government.
Pew Internet & American Life Project

Why News of Iraq Didn't Surge
26 Mar 08In the history of the Iraq conflict, May 24, 2007 may not go down as a red letter date; but it marked a turning point in media coverage of the third-longest war in U.S. history.
Project for Excellence in Journalism

Public Attitudes Toward the War in Iraq: 2003-2008
19 Mar 08Ratings of how things are going in Iraq have improved over the past year, but a clear majority now say the initial decision to go to war was wrong.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Public Still Faults Government Care for Troops
19 Mar 08A year after problems at Walter Reed and other military hospitals made major news, Americans see no improvement in treatment of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

What Foreign Policy Agenda?
14 Mar 08Presidential challengers -- and the ultimate winner -- will face a public that is disillusioned, downbeat and partisan about foreign affairs but far from clear about what it wants done.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Putin's Popularity Propels Chosen Successor in Russian Election
Russians Prefer Strength in Their Leader, Economy over Democracy
27 Feb 08Opinion polling -- showing a consistent Russian preference for a strong leader over a democratic government -- suggests the outcome of Russia's presidential election is a foregone conclusion.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Global Views on Castro and Cuba
19 Feb 08Fidel Castro ends his long tenure as president of Cuba with international opinion mixed on the question of whether his leadership has been good or bad for his country.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Italy's Malaise: La Vita Non É Cosí Dolce
Italians' Spirits Are Flagging -- But Not Their Sense of Cultural Superiority
17 Jan 08Taken aback by critical depictions of their country's "collective funk," Italians' spirits are flagging -- but not their sense of cultural superiority.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Despite Progress and an Upbeat Pre-Election Mood, Ethnic Conflicts Have Long Worried Many Kenyans
3 Jan 08Despite economic progress and an upbeat pre-election mood, a recent Pew poll found greater concern in Kenya about tribal rivalries than in all but two other African nations surveyed.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

View from Pakistan: Before Bhutto's Assassination, Public Opinion Was Increasingly Opposed to Terrorism
28 Dec 07What the former prime minister's death means for the country's stability is highly uncertain, but it is clear that Pakistanis, while supportive of democratic elections and disapproving of militant extremism, remain highly skeptical of the U.S.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Iraq Portrait: How the Press Has Covered Events on the Ground
19 Dec 07Through the first 10 months of 2007, the news media's picture of Iraq was painted mostly in bleak colors. But reports about daily attacks declined in late summer and fall, as did the amount of coverage from Iraq overall.
Project for Excellence in Journalism

Health Problems, Priorities and Donors Worldwide
The Kaiser/Pew Global Health Survey
13 Dec 07A new survey compares the health priorities of people in developing nations with those of their governments and the international organizations that work in global health.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

South Korea's Coming Election Highlights Christian Community
12 Dec 07The fact that the presidential frontrunner is a Protestant Church leader highlights the growing numbers, influence and religious intensity of South Korea's Christians.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

How the World Sees China
11 Dec 07Rising anti-Americanism in recent years has given China a decided image advantage over the U.S. But Pew polls suggests that perceptions of China's increasing military and economic power could boost anti-Chinese sentiment in years to come.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

How the World Rates Women as Leaders
5 Dec 07On Dec.10, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will become Argentina's first female president, joining 11 other female prime ministers and presidents. But a Pew Global Attitudes survey finds world publics hold mixed opinions about women political leaders.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Journalists in Iraq: A Survey of Reporters on the Front Lines
28 Nov 07Journalists covering Iraq -- mostly veteran war correspondents -- give their reporting a generally positive assessment but describe conditions there as the most perilous they have ever encountered.
Project for Excellence in Journalism

Public Sees Progress in War Effort
27 Nov 07For the first time in a long time, nearly half of Americans express positive opinions about the situation in Iraq and judgments about the overall situation in Iraq have been improving steadily since the summer.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Will Shared Concern about Iran Provide Common Ground for Middle East Negotiators in Annapolis?
27 Nov 07Chances for progress at the Middle East conference should be bolstered by the presence of Saudi Arabia, which is viewed as a key ally in much of the Arab world.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Lebanon's Precarious Politics
Many of the Country's Sectarian Differences Do Not Run along a Straight Muslim-Christian Fault Line
15 Nov 07Behind the delayed selection of a new president, now scheduled for next week, lie complicated sectarian struggles, many of which do not run along a straight Muslim/Christian fault line.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Iraq News: Less Dominant, Still Important
9 Nov 07Both media coverage of the conflict and public interest in it have fallen, but a growing number of Americans would like to see more war coverage, especially of U.S. troops and returning veterans.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Musharraf's Support Shrinks, Even As More Pakistanis Reject Terrorism... and the U.S.
7 Nov 07As American leaders from George W. Bush to Barack Obama talk tough with Pakistan about terrorism, Pakistanis themselves express fear and loathing of the United States, but reject terrorist tactics.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Karen Hughes' Uphill Battle
Foreign Policy, Not Public Diplomacy, Mostly Determines How the World Views America
1 Nov 07Despite the efforts of the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, America's image problems endure as foreign policy, not public diplomacy, is the major determinant of how the world views America.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Widespread Negativity: Muslims Distrust Westerners More than Vice Versa
30 Oct 07Muslims and non-Muslims associate a wide array of negative characteristics with one another. But there is generally more antagonism in Muslim countries toward the West than vice versa.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Turkey and Its (Many) Discontents
The Turkish Public's Opinions of America Have Hit Rock Bottom -- but Turks Don't Think Much of Other Nations or Groups Either
25 Oct 07Turkey is a key strategic U.S. ally but negative views of America are widespread and growing there. Turks also have low opinions of many other nations and groups.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

World Publics Welcome Global Trade -- But Not Immigration
4 Oct 07A 47-nation survey finds broad support for the key tenets of economic globalization, including free trade, multinational corporations and free markets. Yet concerns exist about inequality, threats to traditional culture, threats to the environment and threats posed by immigration.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Petraeus' Proposals Draw Public Approval, But Fail to Lift War Support
Increases in Optimism Are Mostly Limited to Republicans
18 Sep 07A new Pew survey finds most Americans (57%) approve of the general's recommendations for troop withdrawals, but just 16% say Petraeus' statements have made them more optimistic about the war, while 67% say their views were unchanged by the general's report.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

What Could Convince Americans to Stay the Course in Iraq?
The Strength of Conflicting Opinions May Shade Public Reactions to the Petraeus Report
5 Sep 07A look at the course of opinions about the Iraq war over the past few years suggests that two crucial but opposing factors in U.S. thinking will likely shape the public's response to the Petraeus report.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Along the Iraq-Vietnam Parallel
A sharp partisan difference in public opinion separates the two war paths
28 Aug 07To many observers the most obvious parallel between the two conflicts is that, after early public support, disillusionment mounted as hostilities dragged on. But while the overall trajectory is similar, an important political difference distinguishes public attitudes toward the two wars.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

A Rising Tide Lifts Mood in the Developing World
Support for Suicide Bombing Drops Sharply in Muslim Countries
24 Jul 07Even in some countries where incomes are still low and life is tough, people tend to be happier with their lives -- if their economy is on the upswing. And, in Muslim countries, support for suicide bombing has declined sharply in recent years. Also, a commentary by Bruce Stokes analyzes factors contributing higher levels of happiness in many countries worldwide.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Muslim Americans Report: Arabic Translation of Summary
18 Jul 07An Arabic translation of the summary of Pew's report on Muslim Americans
Pew Research Center

In Search of a Way Out: Rethinking the Arab-Israeli Conflict
A Palestinian Scholar Discusses How a Solution Could Help Resolve the Larger Clash Between Islam and Christianity
12 Jul 07In an interview with the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Palestinian scholar Sari Nusseibeh discusses ways in which a settlement could help resolve the larger tensions between Islam and other faiths.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

China's Online Population Explosion
What It May Mean for the Internet Globally...and for U.S. Users
12 Jul 07The influx of tens of millions of new online participants each year can be expected to have far-reaching consequences for the people of China, for its government and economy, and for the United States and the world.
Pew Internet & American Life Project

Same-Sex Marriage: Redefining Legal Unions Around the World
11 Jul 07In many countries around the globe, gay and lesbian couples are seeking the right to marry or enter into other legally recognized forms of domestic partnerships. The legal definition of marriage is in flux, particularly in the developed world.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Iraq Dominates News Landscape in First Half of 2007
Second String Stories Ranged from Politics and Crime to Pet Food and Celebrities, but the Public Stayed Tuned to Casualties and Troop Levels
29 Jun 07So far, the war in Iraq has eclipsed most other 2007news stories. Second string stories ranged from politics and crime to pet food and celebrities, but the public stayed primarily tuned to casualties and troop levels.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Global Unease with Major World Powers and Leaders
47-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey Finds Rising Environmental Concerns
27 Jun 07A new survey finds continuing anti-American sentiment and significant slippage in China's image among the publics of other major nations. Concern about environmental degradation as a major threat to the planet has increased substantially in 20 of 35 countries for which trends are available.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Missing in Action: News Coverage of Private Contract Forces in Iraq
Limited, Intermittent Reporting Leaves a Major Story of the War Largely Uncovered
21 Jun 07Extensive reliance in the Iraq conflict on military forces hired by private firms is a significant new element in 21St Century warfare. But what does the American public know about this phenomenon?
Project for Excellence in Journalism

Public Wants to Know More about Darfur and Many Favor U.S. Involvement
7 Jun 07As world leaders gather in Germany for the annual G-8 meeting, the humanitarian crisis in Darfur will be high on their agenda. Pew's latest surveys find nearly half of Americans believing the United States has a moral obligation to do something about the ethnic genocide there, and a modest plurality thinking the U.S. should send troops.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Mixed Views on Immigration Bill
Democratic Leaders Face Growing Disapproval, Criticism on Iraq
7 Jun 07The public is ambivalent about the immigration bill being debated in the Senate, but a majority favors one of its key goals - providing a way for illegal aliens to become citizens. The public supports such a provision even when it is described as "amnesty," a new Pew survey finds.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

A Six-Day War: Its Aftermath in American Public Opinion
For 40 years, public opinion has consistently favored Israel over the Palestinians
30 May 07For 40 years since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the U.S. public has sympathized more with Israel than with the Palestinians almost regardless of the news of the day, through the making and collapse of peace agreements and attacks and reprisals by all sides.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Baker-Hamilton Redux
The U.S. public remains enthusiastic about the bipartisan proposals
29 May 07Four months after the bipartisan Iraq Study Group proposed a number of new policy options for dealing with the Iraq conflict, these proposals remain broadly popular with the public.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream
22 May 07The first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.
Pew Research Center

Have National Guard Deployments in Iraq Eroded States' Disaster Response Capability?
Kansas' Problems in Helping Tornado Victims Less Severe than Initially Claimed
10 May 07The tornado that tore apart Greensburg, Kan., dramatized what could happen when a state's equipment is thousands of miles away in Iraq. But it now seems that Kansas' problems in rushing aid to the disaster scene weren't as acute as the governor first implied.
Stateline.org

Closeness to Troops Boosts Support for War -- but Not By Much
9 May 07Those with close contacts to servicemembers in Iraq or Afghanistan tend to be more supportive of the Iraq war but their differences with those who are not closely connected are relatively modest.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Can Secular Democracy Survive in Turkey?
Turmoil over a Presidential Choice Highlights Turks' Concerns about Religious Influence in Political Life
4 May 07By nominating an observant Muslim for the Turkish presidency, Prime Minister Erdogan inadvertently highlighted deep-rooted tensions about the role of religion in the nation's political life.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Campaign '08: Analysis of Key Voter Groups
Solid Majority Favors Troop Withdrawal, But Both Sides Reject Compromise over Iraq Funding
26 Apr 07Who's most inspiring? Who's most electable? Find out how liberals and conservatives, war supporters and opponents and other segments of the electorate rate the presidential candidates. Also, a solid majority of the public favors troop withdrawal, but both sides reject compromise over Iraq funding.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Pope to Visit 'Pentecostalized' Brazil
Survey Shows Growing Movement Threatens Catholic Dominance
19 Apr 07When Benedict XVI arrives in Sao Paolo, he will encounter a country where, a Pew survey finds, the rapid growth of pentecostal sects along with increasing secularism are threatening Catholicism's historic dominance.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Who Do You Trust for War News?
The Public Now Puts Little Confidence in the Descriptions of Iraq Provided by Either the Military or the Press
5 Apr 07Four years into the Iraq war, most Americans say they have little or no confidence in the information they receive -- from either the military or the media -- about how things are going on the ground.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Solid Majority Favors Congressional Troop Deadline
Some rise in optimism about current Iraq situation, but only 36% think surge will work in the long-run
26 Mar 0740% now say the situation in Iraq is going fairly or very well but nearly six in ten want their representative to vote for a withdrawal deadline and only 36% think the U.S. troop buildup will work.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Trends in Attitudes Toward Religion and Social Issues: 1987-2007
22 Mar 07As the '08 elections approach, what are the views of Republicans, Democrats and the general public on "social values" issues? And how have they changed over time?
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Nigeria's Presidential Election: The Christian-Muslim Divide
22 Mar 07The campaign leading up to the election is a reminder of the sharp Christian-Muslim divide in Africa's most populous country.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007
Political Landscape More Favorable To Democrats
22 Mar 07Increased public support for the social safety net, signs of growing public concern about income inequality, and a diminished appetite for assertive national security policies have improved the political landscape for the Democrats as the 2008 presidential campaign gets underway.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Iraq and Vietnam: A Crucial Difference in Opinion
The Military's Prestige Remains High despite Discontent with War
22 Mar 07While public opinion about the war in Iraq has followed a path not unlike that charted during the Vietnam War, one important disparity stands out: attitudes toward the military.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Trends in Public Opinion about the War in Iraq, 2003-2007
15 Mar 07On the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the public has turned against the decision to use military force. But views of how the military effort is going, while now decidedly negative, have been more volatile, and Americans have been slow to conclude that U.S. troops should be withdrawn.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Foreign Policy: The Public Sends a Muddled Message
No Clear Directions for Policymakers
8 Mar 07Opinion surveys find much in the way of public frustration, but little in the way of direction on the international and military front.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

War Support Slips, Fewer See Positive Outcome
New Poll Also Finds Growing Pessimism about Deficit, Rich-Poor Gap
15 Feb 07Two-thirds of the public now says that the U.S. military effort in Iraq is not going well, reflecting a sharp increase in the last year. And most say the country is also losing ground in problem areas from the federal budget to corruption to the environment.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Top of the News: Politics, War, and a Crucial Speech
PEJ News Coverage Index: Jan. 21-26, 2007
30 Jan 07One not-so-subliminal message in last week's coverage is that of an increasingly dangerous and destabilizing world.
Project for Excellence in Journalism

Broad Support for Political Compromise in Washington
But Many Are Hesitant to Yield on Contentious Issues
22 Jan 07A large majority of the American public thinks the country is more politically polarized than in the past, and an even greater number expresses a strong desire for political compromise. Fully three-quarters say they like political leaders who are willing to compromise, compared with 21% who see this as a negative trait.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Most Oppose President Bush's New Iraq Plan
But New Poll Finds Surging GOP Support for a Troop Surge
16 Jan 07President Bush's plan to send roughly 21,000 additional troops to Iraq has drawn broad opposition from the American public. If anything, the plan has triggered increased partisan polarization on the debate over what to do in Iraq.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Iraq Policy Debate Dominates the News
But in a Week of Serious Events, Celebrity Coverage Held Its Own
16 Jan 07In the second week of the new year (January 7-12) Iraq policy filled 34% of the overall newshole and was the top story in all five media sectors -- newspapers, online, network TV, cable and radio.
Project for Excellence in Journalism

Few Latinos Now Support the War in Iraq
Hispanics Favor Troop Withdrawals Even More Strongly Than Does the General Public
4 Jan 07Two out of every three Latinos now believe that U.S. troops should be brought home from Iraq as soon as possible and only one in four thinks the U.S. made the right decision in using military force, according to a new survey by the Pew Hispanic Center.
Pew Hispanic Center

What Was -- and Wasn't on the Public's Mind
...And How Opinions Changed During 2006
20 Dec 06Once again, public opinion played a major role in the most important news stories of the year. Some of the strongest 2006 trends in public opinion carried over from previous years -- notably growing concern about the Iraq war and mounting dissatisfaction with the performance of the Republican-controlled Congress.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

New UN Chief Heads an Organization That Faces Both Skepticism and Support
Surveys in 15 Countries Find Most Have Favorable Views of the Agency - Though Not in the Middle East
20 Dec 06When Ban Ki-moon of South Korea placed his left hand on the Charter of the United Nations and was sworn in as its eighth Secretary General, he assumed control of an organization viewed with dramatically varying degrees of respect, skepticism and indifference by the countries of the world.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Free Trade Agreements Get a Mixed Review
51% Say U.S. Has Responsibility to "Do Something" in Darfur
19 Dec 06The American public continues to have a mixed opinion about free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the WTO. On balance they are seen as a good thing for the country, but Americans are divided over the impact of free trade agreements on their own personal financial situations.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Baker-Hamilton Report Evokes Modest Public Interest
Growing Number Sees Iraq Becoming 'Another Vietnam'
12 Dec 06The public has grown more negative about the situation in Iraq and President Bush's handling of the war. Half of Americans now believe the war in Iraq will turn out to be another Vietnam, while just a third think that the U.S. will accomplish its goals there.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Civil War: What's in a Name?
To Most of the American Public, the Question May Be Largely Semantic
6 Dec 06A mostly insiders-only debate about whether Iraq is in a state of civil war broke out into the open last week when two major news organizations announced that they would henceforth refer to the conflict as a civil war. According to polling in September by the Pew Research Center, much of the public had already reached that conclusion.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

The Putin Popularity Score
Increasingly Reviled in the West, Russia's Leader Enjoys Broad Support at Home
6 Dec 06Is Vladimir Putin a new breed of postmodern, post-communist populist or an old-style dictator in democratic clothing? It's a question currently being debated with even more urgency as the investigation widens into the bizarre poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Soviet spy and outspoken critic of the Russian president.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Religion in a Globalizing World
Pluralism, not Secularism is the Dominant Trend in an 'Age of Explosive, Pervasive Religiosity.'
4 Dec 06Scholar Peter Berger argues that the peaceful coexistence of different racial, ethnic and religious groups has become a global phenomenon and the resulting emergence of religious choice is the best model for understanding religion in a today's world.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Turkey: Troubled Terrain for Pope Benedict
The Pontiff Visits a Country Where Negative Views of Christians and the West Are on the Rise
27 Nov 06The Pontiff's diplomatic skills may well be tested as he visits a country where negative views of Christians and the West are on the rise.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Legislating International Religious Freedom
20 Nov 06In a Pew Forum roundtable event, four experts discuss the wisdom and success of U.S. legislation that makes the promotion of religious freedom an explicit goal of America's foreign policy and ways to make that policy more effective.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Europeans Debate the Scarf and the Veil
Except in France, most Muslim women choose to cover their heads -- but many among the general public disapprove
20 Nov 06Government leaders in the Netherlands reignited the debate over veils and head scarves when they announced plans for legislation that would ban the full-face veil. A Pew survey found that European publics are divided on head scarf bans.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Bush Visits Indonesia
President travels to a country with volatile views of U.S.
16 Nov 06In Indonesia, where President Bush travels early next week after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam, America's image has undergone some dramatic ups and downs over the last few years.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Democrats Hold Double-Digit Lead in Competitive Districts
GOP Troubles Extend into Home Territory
26 Oct 06The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Iraq continues to be the dominant issue for voters. More than four-in-ten voters (45%) view the situation in Iraq as the most important, or second most important issue in their vote, the highest percentage for the six issues tested.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Iraq Looms Large in a Nationalized Election
Congressional Race Unchanged After Foley's Resignation
5 Oct 06A new poll finds dismay about U.S. military action in Iraq at its highest level since the war began and many voters say the issue will be primary in their ballot decisions come November. Resignation of Rep. Foley has little impact so far.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Pentecostal Power
A new poll sheds light on this fast-growing global religious movement
5 Oct 06A Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey examines one of the fastest-growing segments of global Christianity, Pentecostalism.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

The Vatican and Islam
Pope Benedict XVI Prepares to Visit Turkey
4 Oct 06Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Turkey on Nov. 28-30, a trip that has already attracted exceptionally close attention because of the pope's use of an inflammatory 14th-century quote about Islam during a September speech in Regensburg, Germany. Pew Forum Senior Editor Robert Ruby examines the issues and challenges in interviews with George Weigel, an expert on Catholicism, and John Esposito, a scholar of Islam.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

God's Country?
Evangelicals & U.S. Foreign Policy
26 Sep 06In recent years, evangelicals have helped to put conservatives at the helm of U.S. foreign policy, while focusing their energies on a few issues including support for Israel and promotion of religious freedom abroad. Now, they are showing interest in global warming and other issues traditionally seen as liberal.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Publics of Asian Powers Hold Negative Views of One Another
China's Neighbors Worry About its Growing Military Strength
21 Sep 06Traditional rivals in Asia continue to look at each other with deep suspicion and concern, especially China and Japan. The Japanese worry about China's increasing military power, while the Chinese believe Japan has yet to atone for its militaristic past.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Democrats Hold Solid Lead; Strong Anti-Incumbent, Anti-Bush Mood
14 Sep 06Voters view the coming elections through the prism of national issues and concerns
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

How 9-11 Changed the News
11 Sep 06Coverage of foreign affairs and terrorism soars; domestic issues languish and soft news holds firm.
Project for Excellence in Journalism

A Diminished Public Appetite for Military Force and Mideast Oil
6 Sep 06Americans' views of the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have changed little since 2001, but most no longer see an expanded U.S. military overseas as helpful.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Support for a Female Heir in Japan
Before Today's Birth, the Public Was Ready for a Change
6 Sep 06With the news today that Japan's 39-year-old Princess Kiko has given birth to a male heir, Japan's succession crisis has passed. But a recent Pew Global Attitudes survey found that a large majority of the Japanese public favored changing the law so that a female could rule.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Five Years After 9/11
6 Sep 06In exclusive interviews, Samuel P. Huntington says the current conflict between the Muslim world and the West could be far worse and Akbar Ahmed says current U.S. policies tend to strengthen the most radical Muslim leaders.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Parental Pressure on Students: Not Enough in America; Too Much in Asia
24 Aug 06Americans think parents here are too lax; Asians think parents there are too tough.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Voters Focus on Domestic Issues, Despite Crises Abroad
17 Aug 06War in Lebanon, widening violence in Iraq and the foiled airline terror plot failed to produce big changes in attitudes toward Israel or President Bush while economic worries continue to dominate the voting agenda.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

The French-Muslim Connection
Is France Doing a Better Job of Integration than Its Critics?
17 Aug 06When Muslim youths rioted in French suburbs last year, critics were quick to fault the French assimilation model. But recent findings suggest that the French can claim some success.
Pew Research Center

In Great Britain, Muslims Worry About Islamic Extremism
Concerns Pre-Date Airplane Plot
10 Aug 06Even before British authorities announced they had thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up airplanes, many people in Britain - including Muslims - were very concerned about Islamic extremism.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Americans' Support for Israel Unchanged by Recent Hostilities
Domestic Political Distemper Continues
26 Jul 06A new Pew poll conducted July 6-19 finds little change in public sympathy for Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians, while Americans remain dissatisfied with the state of the nation and with the president's performance.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Lebanon's Muslims: Relatively Secular and Pro-Christian
But Support for Terrorism and Anti-Semitism are Widespread
26 Jul 06But on many issues, including terrorism, Lebanon's Muslim majority shares the views of other Muslims in the Middle East. In particular, Lebanon's Muslims -- as well as its Christians -- are strongly anti-Israel.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

The Rise of Shia Islam - and Iran
A Conversation with Vali Nasr
24 Jul 06The recent violence in Lebanon and Israel, together with the sectarian strife in Iraq and escalating tensions around Iran's nuclear ambitions, has drawn urgent attention to the resurgence and politicization of Shia Islam in the Middle East.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

The U.S. Public's Pro-Israel History
In Mid-East Conflicts, Americans Consistently Side with Israel
19 Jul 06A substantial plurality of the American public has been steadfast in its support for Israel as the intensity of armed conflict in the Middle East has waxed and waned through the years.
Pew Research Center

G8 Summiteers Inspire Little Confidence Around the Globe
Leaders Earn Generally Low Marks for Dealing with World Issues
13 Jul 06When President George W. Bush is greeted by his host, President Vladimir Putin at this weekend's G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, neither one can feel secure in the confidence placed in their leadership by the citizens of major countries around the globe. But the latest Pew Global Attitudes survey also finds that the other leaders at the annual summit also earn generally low marks for their handling of world affairs.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Muslims in Europe
Economic - Not Religious - Worries Top Their Concerns
6 Jul 06Muslims living in Europe worry about their future, and many say they have had a bad experience as a result of their religion or ethnicity. But Muslims there do not generally believe most Europeans are hostile toward people of their faith.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Mitofsky on Mexico's Standoff
6 Jul 06Dean of exit pollsters sees Calderon hanging on to lead and expresses confidence in Mexican election system.
Pew Research Center

Imperialism, Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism
A Conversation with Josef Joffe
28 Jun 06Has U.S. power stoked both anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism?
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Moved by the Spirit
Pentecostal Power & Politics after 100 Years
28 Jun 06What does the global rise of Pentecostalism mean for U.S. foreign policy?
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

A Small Boost for Bush
Views of Iraq Improve
22 Jun 06Americans are more optimistic about the U.S. achieving its goals in Iraq.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

The Great Divide
How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other
22 Jun 06After a year marked by riots over cartoon portrayals of Muhammad, a major terrorist attack in London, and continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most Muslims and Westerners see relations between them as generally bad.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

America's Image Slips
But Allies Share U.S. Concerns about Iran, Hamas
13 Jun 06The 2006 Pew Global Attitudes survey finds that America's image has again slipped in most of the 15 countries surveyed and support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism has declined even among close U.S. allies such as Japan.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Islam and the West
A Conversation with Bernard Lewis
6 Jun 06The well-known scholar and supporter of the Iraq invasion gives his views on progress of the war, confrontation with Iran and democracy in the Muslim world.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Where Terrorism Finds Support in the Muslim World
That May Depend on How You Define It - and Who Are the Targets
23 May 06Attitudes toward suicide bombings and other terrorist acts directed against civilians depend more on where those activities take place -- and who they are directed against -- than on demographic or other differences among Muslim populations.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

The Iraq-Vietnam Difference
This time, the opposition runs strongly along party lines.
16 May 06This time, the opposition runs strongly along party lines.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

The Problem of American Exceptionalism
Our values and attitudes may be misunderstood, but they have consequences on the world scene
9 May 06In an excerpt from their new book, America Against the World, Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut and journalist Bruce Stokes examine the major factors, real and imagined, that contribute to the global rise in anti-Americanism.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Congress Faces Record Public Discontent
Anti-Incumbent Sentiment Echoes 1994
20 Apr 06Belief that this Congress has accomplished less than its predecessors is higher than at any point in the past nine years; Republican leaders take the blame.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

India: Pro-America, Pro-Bush
Bucking the global trend, U.S. popularity soared among Indians in '05
28 Feb 06This week, President Bush visits a country whose people hold both him and the U.S. in high regard.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Truly a World Wide Web
Globe Goes Digital
21 Feb 06Computer usage and internet access have gone global. In many countries the growth has been fastest among people older than 50, according to a new Pew Global Attitudes report.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Youth and War
From Vietnam to Iraq, Generations Disagree About the Use of Military Force
21 Feb 06Neither hawks nor doves, America's youth are more willing than their elders to give both war and peace a chance. A new poll analysis finds that generational differences on the use of force confound the stereotypes.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Bush's Concern Over Isolationism Reflects More Than Just Rhetoric
Public Unenthused By Democracy Push
3 Feb 06When President Bush delivered a strong warning against isolationism in his State of the Union address, he was speaking to a recent and dramatic turn in public opinion, indicated by Pew polling.
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Russia's Weakened Democratic Embrace
6 Jan 06As concerns grow over the state of Russia's democracy, recent polling by the Pew Global Attitudes Project finds an erosion of support for democracy among the Russian people.
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Arab and Muslim Perceptions of the United States
10 Nov 05Testimony to U.S. House International Relations Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Pew Global Attitudes Project

Mapping the Political Landscape 2005
1 Sep 05The Center's report offers a richly textured portrait of the American electorate, including a new analysis of 2004 election returns that reveals the congruence between where people live and how they vote.
Pew Research Center

Trends 2005
20 Jan 05The first publication of the Pew Research Center explores American public opinion and values, religion and public life, media, the Internet, Hispanics, the states and global opinion.
Pew Research Center