According to our “Trends in American Values” report released in June 2012, 83% agree that “we should pay less attention to problems overseas and concentrate on problems here at home.” That’s up 10 points since 2002, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and the highest percentage expressing this view since 1994. At the same time, the percentage agreeing that “it’s best for the future of our country to be active in world affairs” has fallen from 90% to 83% since 2009, while the percentage disagreeing doubled from 7% to 14%.

The public is divided on the use of military strength.

According to our September 2012 survey, four-in-ten Americans believe the U.S. relies on military strength too much to achieve its foreign policy goals, and about the same number (44%) say their country relies on its military strength about the right amount. Only 10% say the U.S. relies on military might too little.

Most think the U.S. should be less involved in Middle East leadership changes.

A plurality of Americans would support taking military action against Syria if it is confirmed that it used chemical weapons against anti-government groups.

However, absent the concern about use of chemical weapons, Americans surveyed in Dec. 2012 said by a 63% to 27% margin that the U.S. did not have a responsibility to do something about Syria. A survey conducted in early March that did not include a question on chemical weapons found that 64% of Americans were against arming the rebels.

Americans largely approve of the use of drones to target extremists, unlike most other nations surveyed. 

Americans largely support the use of drones to target extremists in countries like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.  A survey released February of this year found 56% of the U.S. public continues to support the drone program and 26% say they disapprove. Support for drone attacks crosses party lines: 68% of Republicans and 58% of Democrats say they support the strikes.

In the rest of the world, there has been strong opposition to American drone strikes. In 17 of 20 countries surveyed last spring, more than half disapproved of the U.S. conducting drone attacks. The policy was particularly unpopular in majority-Muslim nations, but it also faced disapproval in Europe and other regions as well.

 Overall, defending the nation from terrorism has remained a “top priority” for the U.S. public in recent years, although it has slipped from the top spot since 2002. In 2013, 71% of the public said it was a top priority for Congress and the president, behind strengthening the nation’s economy (84%) and improving the job situation (79%) and about the same as reducing the deficit (72%). (Explore  our interactive data visual on the public’s top priorities 2002-2013.)

Americans continue to support a tough stance to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Our February 2012 report found strong public support for taking tough measures – including the possible use of military force – to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) said it is more important to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if it means taking military action. Just 30% say it is more important to avoid a military conflict with Iran, even if it means that country develops nuclear weapons. These opinions are little changed from October 2009.

Iran and China are at the top of the public’s list of countries that pose the greatest danger to the United States. In a spring 2012 survey, 26% named China as the country that represents the greatest danger to the United States; Iran received the second-most mentions at 16%. North Korea, at 13%, was third.

In the same survey examining attitudes about global threats, 70% said Iran’s nuclear program poses a major threat to the well-being of the United States.

A majority of Americans want troops out of Afghanistan quickly.

Our surveys have found growing support since 2010 for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan “as soon as possible.” In October 2012, six-in-ten said they want the troops removed as soon as possible, up from just 40 percent in 2010. 

Read more Pew Research reports on Foreign Policy.

Browse our other State of the Union tip sheets: 

Overview | Economy | Middle Class | Gun Control | U.S.-China Relations | U.S.-Middle East Relations | Immigration | Climate Change | Gay Marriage | Debt and Deficit

Seven-in-ten Americans see Iran’s nuclear program as a major threat to the well-being of the U.S., putting it on a par with perceived dangers posed by Islamic extremist groups and North Korea’s nuclear program, according to our survey conducted Apr. 30-May 13, 2012.

A separate survey was done of American foreign affairs experts. The public’s concern about the nuclear threat posed by Iran was shared by retired military officers and business and trade leaders, but less so by government officials, scholars and members of the news media.

A majority of Americans favored taking a hard line with Iran over its nuclear program, saying that was more important than avoiding a military conflict, according to an Oct. 2012 survey.

There are notable partisan and ideological differences on this issue. Eight-in-ten Republicans favor the use of force if necessary to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons compared to 62% of Democrats and 59% of independents. Among conservative Republicans, 87% say it is more important to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons even if it means taking military action compared to 53% of liberal Democrats.

Globally, the U.S. public is the strongest supporter of using military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons according to a March-April 2012 survey.

Among those who said they opposed Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, Americans are the most willing to take military action if necessary while the British and Germans lean toward the use of force. The French are divided on the question, and the Russians and Chinese show no support for a military strike and lean toward accepting a nuclear Iran. These countries constitute the so-called “P5+1″ group — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany — who have engaged in talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

There is more support around the world for using economic sanctions as the means to dissuade Iran from continuing its efforts to build a nuclear arsenal.

Among those who oppose Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, Americans and citizens of their European negotiating partners in the talks with Iran strongly support tougher international economic measures against Tehran to try to stop its nuclear program. However, the Chinese and Russians do not agree with their negotiating counterparts on economic sanctions. Just 46% of Russians who oppose the Iranian nuclear program back new sanctions, down from 67% in 2010. In China, 38% favor more sanctions, a drop of 20 points in the last two years.

Overall opinions of Iran are largely negative across much of the world, according to our spring 2012 survey.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose last term ends this year, received largely negative views in most of the predominantly Muslim nations we surveyed.

Pakistan is a major exception among these nations, with about half (47%) expressing a favorable opinion of Ahmadinejad, while just 6% see him unfavorably (47% do not offer an opinion). In Lebanon, opinions of the Iranian leader split along religious lines with 95% of Shia seeing him favorably and 92% of Sunnis regarding him unfavorably.
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Overview |Deficit and Debt| Economy | Middle Class | Gun Control | U.S.-China Relations | Immigration | Climate Change | Gay Marriage | U.S.-Middle East Relations | Foreign Policy | U.S. Catholics

A 21-nation Pew Global Attitudes survey finds widespread opposition to Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. And in most countries, there is majority support among opponents of a nuclear-armed Iran for international economic sanctions to try to stop Tehran’s weapons program. The Chinese and the Russians are notable dissenters in this regard. The poll also found majorities in Western Europe and the United States disposed to taking military action to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Again, the Russians and Chinese disagreed.

Read the full report.

In most regions of the world, opinion of the United States continues to be more favorable than it was in the Bush years, but U.S. image now faces a new challenge: doubts about America’s superpower status. In 15 of 22 nations, the balance of opinion is that China either will replace or already has replaced the United States as the world’s leading superpower. This view is especially widespread in Western Europe, where at least six-in-ten in France (72%), Spain (67%), Britain (65%) and Germany (61%) see China overtaking the U.S.

Majorities in Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Mexico and China itself also foresee China supplanting the U.S. as the world’s dominant power. In most countries for which there are trends, the view that China will overtake the U.S. has increased substantially over the past two years, including by 10 or more percentage points in Spain, France, Pakistan, Britain, Jordan, Israel, Poland and Germany. Among Americans, the percentage saying that China will eventually overshadow or has already overshadowed the U.S. has increased from 33% in 2009 to 46% in 2011.

At least some of this changed view of the global balance of power may reflect the fact that the U.S. is increasingly seen as trailing China economically. This is especially the case in Western Europe, where the percentage naming China as the top economic power has increased by double digits in Spain, Germany, Britain and France since 2009.

In other parts of the globe, fewer are convinced that China is the world’s leading economic power. Majorities or pluralities in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America still name the U.S. as the world’s dominant economic power. In the Middle East, Palestinians and Israelis agree that America continues to sit atop the global economy, while in Jordan and Lebanon more see China in this role. Notably, by an almost 2-to-1 margin the Chinese still believe the U.S. is the world’s dominant economic power.

These are among the key findings from a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, conducted March 18 to May 15.¹ The survey also finds that, in the U.S., France, Germany, Spain and Japan, those who see China as the world’s leading economic power believe this is a bad thing. By contrast, those who name the U.S. tend to think it is good that America is still the top global economy. In developing countries those who believe China has already overtaken the U.S. economically generally view this as a positive development. Meanwhile, in China, those who believe the U.S. is still the world’s leading economy tend to see this as a negative.

Compared with reaction to China’s economic rise, global opinion is more consistently negative when it comes to the prospect of China equaling the U.S. militarily. Besides the Chinese themselves, only in Pakistan, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Kenya do majorities see an upside to China matching the U.S. in terms of military power. Meanwhile, the prevailing view in Japan and India is that it would not be in their country’s interest if China were to equal the U.S. militarily; majorities across Western and Eastern Europe, and in Turkey and Israel, share this view.

U.S. Image Largely Favorable

Despite the view in many countries that China either has or will surpass the U.S. as the leading superpower, opinion of America remains favorable, on balance. The median percentage offering a positive assessment of the U.S. is 60% among the 23 countries surveyed. The U.S. receives high marks in Western Europe, where at least six-in-ten in France, Spain, Germany and Britain rate the U.S. positively. Opinion of the U.S. is also consistently favorable across Eastern Europe, as well as in Japan, Kenya, Israel, Brazil and Mexico.

As in years past, U.S. image continues to suffer among predominantly Muslim countries, with the exception of Indonesia, where a majority expresses positive views of the U.S. One-in-five or fewer in Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey view America favorably. In Lebanon, opinion of the U.S. is split, reflecting a religious and sectarian divide; the country’s Shia community has overwhelmingly negative views of America, while Lebanese Sunnis and Christians are more positive.

Views of the U.S. in the Muslim world reflect, at least in part, opposition to the war in Afghanistan and U.S. efforts to fight terrorism. Moreover, few in predominantly Muslim countries say the U.S. takes a multilateral approach to foreign policy. Fewer than a quarter in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey say the U.S. takes the interests of countries like theirs into account when making foreign policy decisions.

In Western Europe, fewer than half in Britain (40%), France (32%) and Spain (19%) say the U.S. takes the interests of other countries into account when making foreign policy decisions. Only in Germany does a majority feel otherwise. In Eastern Europe, a third or less believe America acts multilaterally.

Interestingly, a majority of Chinese (57%) credit America with considering the interests of other nations, although last year more (76%) held this view. Elsewhere, majorities in Israel, India, Japan, Brazil and Kenya describe the U.S. as multilateral in its approach to foreign policy.

Majorities or pluralities in nearly every country surveyed say the U.S. and NATO should remove their troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible; the only exceptions are Spain, Israel, India, Japan and Kenya, where more say troops should remain in that country until the situation is stabilized than say they should be removed. However, in many parts of the world, there is strong support for the broader, American-led effort to combat terrorism. About seven-in-ten in France (71%), two-thirds in Germany, 59% in Britain and 58% in Spain back U.S. anti-terrorism efforts. Majorities in Eastern Europe also support the U.S.-led fight against terrorism, as do most in Israel and Kenya.

U.S. Viewed More Favorably Than China

Across the nations surveyed, the U.S. generally receives more favorable marks than China: the median percentage rating China favorably is 52%, eight points lower than the median percentage offering a positive assessment of the U.S.

However, the number of people expressing positive views of China has grown in a number of countries, including the four Western European countries surveyed. China’s image has also improved in Indonesia, Japan, Egypt and Poland. Opinion of China has worsened substantially in only two countries surveyed: Kenya (down 15 percentage points from last year) and Jordan (9 points lower than in 2010).

U.S. image, meanwhile, has declined in most countries for which there are trends. Compared with last year, favorable views of America are lower in Kenya (11 percentage points), Jordan (8 points), Turkey (7 points), Indonesia (5 points), Pakistan (5 points), Mexico (4 points), Poland (4 points) and Britain (4 points). However, the largest downward shift has occurred in China, where the number expressing a positive view of the U.S. has fallen 14 points – from 58% in 2010 to 44% today.

In Japan, by contrast, opinion of the U.S. has improved dramatically. A year ago, roughly two-thirds (66%) held a favorable view of America; today, more than eight-in-ten (85%) assess the U.S. favorably. This huge boost in U.S. image is attributable in part to America’s role in helping Japan respond to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the island nation’s northeast coast in March. A majority (57%) of Japanese say the U.S. has done a great deal to assist their country in responding to this dual disaster.

Read the full report, including views abroad of President Obama, at pewglobal.org where more information can be found on the Pew Global Attitudes Project. Read an analysis of the study in the Wall Street Journal by Pew Research Center president Andrew Kohut. (Registration may be required).

_{1. Throughout this report results for Pakistan are from interviews conducted in May 2011, following the death of Osama bin Laden. In all other countries, interviews were concluded in April 2011. A survey was also conducted in Pakistan prior to bin Laden’s death. For more information, see “”U.S. Image in Pakistan Falls No Further Following bin Laden Killing,” June 21, 2011.}

Overview

As the global economy begins to rebound from the great recession, people around the world remain deeply concerned with the way things are going in their countries. Less than a third of the publics in most nations say they are satisfied with national conditions, as overwhelming numbers say their economies are in bad shape. And just about everywhere, governments are faulted for the way they are dealing with the economy.

Yet in most countries, especially in wealthier nations, President Barack Obama gets an enthusiastic thumbs up for the way he has handled the world economic crisis. The notable exception is the United States itself, where as many disapprove of their president’s approach to the global recession as approve.

This pattern is indicative of the broader picture of global opinion in 2010. President Barack Obama remains popular in most parts of the world, although his job approval rating in the U.S. has declined sharply since he first took office.

In turn, opinions of the U.S., which improved markedly in 2009 in response to Obama’s new presidency, also have remained far more positive than they were for much of George W. Bush’s tenure.

Ratings of America are overwhelmingly favorable in Western Europe. For example, 73% in France and 63% in Germany say they have a favorable view of the U.S. Moreover, ratings of America have improved sharply in Russia (57%), up 13 percentage points since 2009, in China (58%), up 11 points, and in Japan (66%), up 7 points. Opinions are also highly positive in other nations around the world including South Korea (79%), Poland (74%) and Brazil (62%).

The U.S. continues to receive positive marks in India, where 66% express a favorable opinion, although this is down from last year when 76% held this view. America’s overall image has also slipped slightly in Indonesia, although 59% still give the U.S. a positive rating in the world’s largest predominantly Muslim nation.

Publics of other largely Muslim countries continue to hold overwhelmingly negative views of the U.S. In both Turkey and Pakistan — where ratings for the U.S. have been consistently low in recent years — only 17% hold a positive opinion. Indeed, the new poll finds opinion of the U.S. slipping in some Muslim countries where opinion had edged up in 2009. In Egypt, America’s favorability rating dropped from 27% to 17% — the lowest percentage observed in any of the Pew Global Attitudes surveys conducted in that country since 2006.

Closer to home, a special follow-up poll found America’s favorable rating tumbling in Mexico in response to Arizona’s enactment of a law aimed at dealing with illegal immigration by giving police increased powers to stop and detain people who are suspected of being in the country illegally.

Only 44% of Mexicans gave the U.S. a favorable rating following the signing of the bill, compared with 62% who did so before the bill passed.

The new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, conducted April 7 to May 8, also finds that overall opinion of Barack Obama remains broadly positive in most non-Muslim nations. In these countries, the national median confidence in Obama to do the right thing in world affairs is 71%, and overall approval of his policies is 64%. In particular, huge percentages in Germany (88%), France (84%), Spain (76%) and Britain (64%) say they back the president’s policies. Similarly in the two African nations polled Obama gets high marks — 89% of Kenyans and 74% of Nigerians approve of his international policies.

Muslims Grow Disillusioned About Obama

Among Muslim publics — except in Indonesia where Obama lived for several years as a child — the modest levels of confidence and approval observed in 2009 have slipped markedly. In Egypt the percentage of Muslims expressing confidence in Obama fell from 41% to 31% and in Turkey from 33% to 23%.

Last year only 13% of Pakistani Muslims expressed confidence in Obama, but this year even fewer (8%) hold this view. And while views of Obama are still more positive than were attitudes toward President Bush among most Muslim publics, significant percentages continue to worry that the U.S. could become a military threat to their country.

Obamamania Tempers

In countries outside of the Muslim world, where the president’s ratings remain generally positive, his standing is not quite as high in 2010 as it was a year ago. The new poll found fewer in many Asian and Latin American countries saying they have confidence in Obama and approve of his policies generally, and even in Europe the large majorities responding positively to his foreign policy are not quite as large as they were in 2009.

Besides declines in overall confidence in some countries, strong endorsement of Obama eroded in countries where he remains broadly popular. Notably, in Britain, France, Germany and Japan, fewer this year say they have a lot of confidence in Obama’s judgment regarding world affairs, while more say some confidence; still there was no increase in the percentage expressing no confidence in Obama in these countries.

Even though Obama has called the Arizona immigration law “misdirected,” it is nonetheless having a negative impact on views of him in Mexico. Prior to the law’s passage, 47% of Mexicans had confidence in Obama’s international leadership, but after passage only 36% held this view. More specifically, 54% of Mexicans say they disapprove of the way Barack Obama is dealing with the new law, and as many as 75% say that about Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

Disagreeing While Not Disapproving

Perhaps more significant than Obama’s small declines in ratings is that a generally positive view of him and the U.S. coexists with significant concerns about the American approach to world affairs and some key policies.

This was not the case in the global surveys taken during President Bush’s terms in office, when specific criticism ran hand in hand with anti-American and anti-Bush sentiment.

Then, as now, one of the most frequent criticisms of U.S. foreign policy is that in its formulation it does not take into account the interests of other countries. This is the prevailing point of view in 15 of 21 countries outside of the U.S. Somewhat fewer people in most countries level this charge than did so during the Bush era. Currently, the median number saying that the U.S. acts unilaterally is 63%; in 2007 a median of 67% expressed that view.

Mixed Reactions to American Policies

In contrast to the Bush years, there is substantial majority support for U.S. anti-terrorism efforts in Britain, France, Spain and Germany. The new poll also found major increases in support of the American efforts in two countries that have been struggling with terrorism of late: Indonesia and Russia, where roughly seven-in-ten say they back the U.S. in this regard. Publics in India, Brazil, Kenya and Nigeria also express strong support for U.S.-led efforts to combat terrorism. However, opposition to these policies is particularly strong in most Muslim countries, and it is also substantial in many nations where the U.S. is fairly well-regarded, including Japan and South Korea.

The war in Afghanistan remains largely unpopular. In Germany, which has the third largest contingent of allied troops in Afghanistan, nearly six-in-ten people favor withdrawal from that country. Opinions are more divided in NATO allies Britain, France and Poland. In most other countries surveyed, majorities or pluralities also oppose the NATO effort.

Global opinion of Barack Obama’s dealing with world trouble spots parallels general opinion of U.S. policies in these areas. With regard to Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, the polling found as many countries approving as disapproving of his handling of these issues. However, the American president gets his worst ratings for dealing with another world problem for which the U.S. is often criticized: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Of 22 nations surveyed including the U.S., in only three nations do majorities approve of Obama’s handling of the dispute: France, Nigeria and Kenya.

In sharp contrast to criticisms and mixed reviews of Obama’s handling of geo-political problems, Obama not only gets good grades for the way he has handled the world economic crisis, but also for dealing with climate change. In most countries, people approve of Obama’s climate change efforts. France is a notable exception, with a 52%-majority disapproving, despite the country’s approval of his other policies.

Modest Economic Optimism

Global publics are mostly glum about the way things are going in their countries. And, despite signs of economic recovery in many parts of the world, people nearly everywhere, with the notable exception of China, India and Brazil, complain that their national economy is doing poorly. Moreover, there is little optimism about the economic future. And in the wake of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, more Europeans say integration has hurt their economies, although overall ratings for the EU remain favorable.

In 20 of 22 countries surveyed, less than half the population is satisfied with the direction of the country, including only 30% of Americans. Lebanese (11%) are the least satisfied. Only in China does an overwhelming portion of the population (87%) express satisfaction with national conditions. Overall, assessments are up in nine countries and down in only five.

Few people are happy with the current state of their national economy. In only four countries: China (91%), Brazil (62%), India (57%) and Poland (53%) do publics say economic conditions are good. All four of these nations weathered the global recession relatively well. Economic gloom is most widespread in Japan, France, Spain and Lebanon, where roughly one-in-eight believes the economy is doing well. But there are signs that an economic recovery may be taking hold. In ten of the countries surveyed, people’s assessment of the economy improved significantly from 2009 to 2010. Only in four nations did it recede.

Still, global publics are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the economic future. In only seven of 22 societies does a majority of those surveyed think economic conditions will improve over the next year. The economic bulls in the survey are the Chinese (87%), Nigerians (76%) and Brazilians (75%). The Japanese (14%) are the most bearish.

Disgruntled people generally fault their government for their country’s economic troubles, although many also blame banks and themselves; few blame the U.S. The most satisfied with their government’s economic performance are also those who have experienced some of the strongest growth in the last year. Roughly nine-in-ten Chinese (91%) say Beijing is doing a good job. Indians (85%) and Brazilians (76%) are also quite pleased with their government’s economic management.

Despite some of the worst recent economic conditions since the Depression, support for free markets remains strong, with some of the most tepid backing in Argentina (40%) and Japan (43%). And people continue to favor trade and globalization, with the weakest — but still majority — support in Turkey (64%) and the U.S. (66%).

China Ascendant

A growing number of people around the globe see China’s economy as the most powerful in the world. Looking at the 20 countries surveyed in each of the last three years, China’s economic star keeps rising. The median number naming China as the world’s leading economy has risen from 20% to 31%. Meanwhile, the percentage naming the U.S. has dropped from 50% to 43%. The publics of the countries surveyed vary in their views of China’s growing economic clout. In the West, opinion is divided in Britain, while majorities in Germany, France and Spain and a plurality in the U.S. see China’s economic strength as a bad thing for their country.

The Pakistanis (79%), Indonesians (61%) and Japanese (61%) regard China’s rising economic power as a positive development. Indians and to a lesser extent South Koreans do not. Latin American, Middle Eastern and African publics see their countries benefiting from China’s economic growth. The Turks (18%) overwhelmingly see it the other way.

China is clearly the most self-satisfied country in the survey. Nine-in-ten Chinese are happy with the direction of their country (87%), feel good about the current state of their economy (91%) and are optimistic about China’s economic future (87%). Moreover, about three-in-four Chinese (76%) think the U.S. takes into account Chinese interests when it makes foreign policy.

Europeans on Europe

In the midst of growing economic concerns in Europe, there is little indication of a broad public backlash against the European Union. Large majorities in Poland, Spain, France and Germany and nearly half in Britain remain supportive of the Brussels-based institution. And European publics continue to have a positive view of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is well-regarded in Britain, Spain and France. In fact, as in the past, Merkel gets better ratings in France than in Germany itself for her leadership in world affairs. And French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ratings are, if anything, somewhat better in Germany than in France. The French leader is less well-regarded in Britain and Spain, but that has been so in previous surveys.

However, Europeans are divided in their views about major economic issues. They are supportive of the euro, but disagree about the merits of European economic integration and the bailing-out of EU member countries in trouble. Opinion of Greece, the recipient of EU financial aid, is on balance positive in Britain and France. But, a majority of Germans express an unfavorable opinion of it.

At a time when NATO is developing a new strategic concept, majorities in major Europeans nations surveyed continue to hold a favorable view of it, as do most Americans. However, many fewer Germans express a positive assessment of it currently (57%) than did so in 2009 (73%). Germans who express opposition to the NATO effort in Afghanistan are far less likely to hold positive views of this defense organization (45%) than do those who back it (76%). This is also true, but to a lesser extent, in the other EU countries surveyed as well as in the U.S.

Limited Support for Extremism

Support for terrorism remains low among the Muslim publics surveyed. Many fewer Muslims in 2010 than in the middle of the past decade say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are justified to defend Islam from its enemies. However, the new poll does show a modest increase over the past year in support for suicide bombing being often or sometimes justifiable, with a rise in Egypt from 15% to 20% and in Jordan from 12% to 20%. Still, these are below the levels of support observed mid-decade.

Overall attitudes toward Osama bin Laden have followed a similar trend line among the Muslim publics surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. Views of the al Qaeda leader have been far more negative in recent years than they were mid-decade. And the poll shows considerably less positive regard for him in Jordan than was apparent in 2009. Support for bin Laden has also declined among Nigerian Muslims, although 48% still express confidence in the al Qaeda leader.

Iran and Its Nuclear Weapons Program

Among the nations surveyed, there is widespread opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and considerable support for tougher economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. For instance, more than three-quarters of those who oppose the Iranian nuclear program in Spain (79%), Britain (78%), Germany (77%) and France (76%), as well as 67% in Russia and 58% in China, approve of tougher sanctions. Many are also willing to consider using military force to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities, including about half of those who oppose Iran’s program in Poland, Germany, Spain and Britain, and roughly six-in-ten in France.

Still, the Pew Global Attitudes survey foreshadows potential tension between the U.S. and other leading powers over what to do about the Iranian nuclear program. Among those who oppose Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons, Americans are more likely than Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, Indians or Russians to approve of economic sanctions against Iran and to support taking military action to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear armaments.

Pakistan is the only country in which a majority (58%) favors Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Elsewhere among largely Muslim nations, public opinion on balance opposes a nuclear-armed Iran, although significant numbers of Jordanians (39%) and Lebanese (34%) do want Iran to have such capabilities. In predominantly Muslim countries, those who oppose Iranian nuclear weapons tend to favor tougher economic sanctions, and although fewer support using the military to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing these weapons, majorities or pluralities in four of the six countries surveyed favor this option.

Views on Climate Change

As in 2009, the new poll found substantial majorities of the publics in most countries seeing global climate change as a serious problem. The intensity of concern about this issue is less evident in the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France than it is among the publics of other major carbon-emitting nations, such as Germany, India, Japan and South Korea.

The publics of the 22 nations surveyed are more divided about paying increased prices to combat climate change. Willingness to do so is nearly universal in China and clear majorities in India, South Korea, Japan, Turkey and Germany also favor consumers paying higher bills. Most people express opposition in the U.S., France, Russia and many of the less affluent countries surveyed, while views are more mixed in Britain, Spain and Brazil.

Also of Note:

• Somewhat more Americans than in 2005 (35% vs. 26%) think the U.S. is well-liked around the world. However, fully 60% think the U.S. is generally disliked. As in 2005, only Americans and Turks are more likely to say their country is disliked than to say it is liked.
• Americans are no more isolationist than Europeans. Asked whether their country should deal with its own problems and let others take care of themselves, 46% of Americans agree, as do 44% of Germans and 49% of British. The French are the most isolationist; 65% oppose helping other nations cope with their challenges.
• But Americans are among the least supportive of international trade among the 22 nations surveyed; nevertheless 66% think it is good for their country.
• While most Europeans and Japanese think Americans are too religious, people in the rest of the world — in 18 of 22 countries — think Americans are not religious enough. This includes the U.S., where 64% say their country should be more religious. Criticism of American secularism is particularly strong in the three Arab nations surveyed.
• Confidence in Russian President Dmitri Medvedev is on the rise, with his assessment up in all five EU member nations surveyed. The strongest backing is in Germany (50%) and the greatest improvement in Poland, where confidence in Medvedev has more than doubled in the last year, to 36%.

Continue reading the full report and explore global public opinion with interactive graphics in our updated database at pewglobal.org.

Also, watch a press conference featuring Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and by former Sen. John C. Danforth presenting this year’s findings at the National Press Club.

Leaders from 47 nations assembled in Washington, D.C. this week for meetings devoted to preventing nuclear material from reaching terrorists. Even at a time when U.S. prestige was at a low point, a 2007 Pew Research Center Global Attitudes survey found that in many countries the United States was cited as the entity that should be responsible for dealing with the spread of nuclear weapons. Indeed, the poll found people around the globe who are most concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons were also the most likely to say the U.S. should take responsibility for addressing nuclear proliferation.

In 2007, the Pew Global Attitudes Project asked respondents in 47 nations (not the same 47 nations attending the summit) which of five dangers — spread of nuclear weapons; religious and ethnic hatred; AIDS and other infections diseases; pollution and other environmental problems; growing gap between the rich and poor — poses the greatest threat to the world.

Many in Africa cited infectious diseases, while respondents in the Americas were more likely to cite environmental concerns. However, in 27 nations more than a third of respondents cited nuclear proliferation as the first or second greatest threat facing the world.

The perceived danger of nuclear weapons was especially high in Japan and Israel. In both countries roughly two-thirds said nuclear proliferation was a major threat to the world. While concern about the spread of nuclear weapons was less widespread in the U.S., 45% of Americans said nuclear proliferation was a major threat, tying it with religious and ethnic hatred as the most cited danger to the world. This was down, however, from 2002 when 58% said nuclear weapons were a major threat to the world.

In the Middle East, a majority of respondents in Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon as well as Israel said the spread of nuclear weapons was a major threat. The proportion who name nuclear proliferation as a top global danger increased in Jordan (by 21 percentage points), Turkey (11 points), and Lebanon (eight points) from 2002 to 2007. Middle East nations that had a high percentage of respondents saying that nuclear weapons were a major threat, also tended to have a high percentage citing religious and ethnic hatred as a major danger, views they share with the United States.

In Japan (47%) and Israel (40%), pluralities said the U.S. should be responsible for addressing the problem, far more than said the U.N. or their own country should take responsibility. Many Americans also agreed that the U.S. should take the lead on this global danger. Far fewer in Middle Eastern countries shared that view. For example, many more people in Lebanon wanted the United Nations (70%) than the U.S. (18%) to deal with the issue, while a plurality in Turkey would like to see their own country take the lead (31%) and just a fifth (22%) say the U.S. should lead.

While the summit is dedicated to securing existing weapons material, the possibility — and the ramifications — of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon have been much debated in recent years. A 2009 survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found worries about Iran developing nuclear weapons very high in America (82% say that this would be a major threat to the well-being of the U.S.) as well as in Western Europe where similarly large majorities in all nations surveyed said this would be a major threat. Fewer expressed concern in Eastern Europe, though majorities in five out of eight nations surveyed saw Iran’s potential nuclear capabilities as a threat to their countries. In Russia, however, only 41% said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to their country.

A 2008 Pew Global Attitudes Project poll found majorities of Muslims in six of eight countries with large Muslim populations opposed to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. However, in five of these eight countries, majorities of Muslims still did not think a nuclear-armed Iran would represent a threat to their country.

A Closer Look at the U.S.

A fall 2009 Pew Research survey found that half of the American public (52%) believes that an attack on the United States with a nuclear, biological or chemical weapon is a greater danger now than it was 10 years ago. This survey also asked members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) their opinion. CFR members (61%) were even more likely than the public to say the danger has increased in the past decade. Only about one in ten in both groups felt the danger had decreased.

Similarly, a new ABC/Washington Post poll found slightly fewer than half of Americans (48%) saying that the possibility that terrorists could obtain nuclear weapons was “the single biggest threat the world faces,” (12%) or “one of the biggest” world threats (36%).

The fear of nuclear weapons was much lower following the end of the Cold War. In 1997, just 36% felt the chance of a WMD attack was greater than it was a decade prior, while close to a third (30%) thought it was less of a threat at that time. Shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, however, close to half the country thought the threat had increased, and in August 2003 nearly two-thirds of Americans said that a WMD threat was greater than it was 10 years ago.

Americans are also willing to take dramatic steps to prevent another country from obtaining nuclear weapons. While a majority of Americans support direct negotiations (63%) with Iran and tougher sanctions (78%) against that country, a strong majority (61%) also says that it is more important to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if it means taking military action. Just a quarter of Americans (24%) support avoiding a military conflict, even if it means Iran may develop nuclear weapons.