In most parts of the world, publics continue to express more confidence in U.S. President Barack Obama than in key European leaders tested in the survey. As in previous surveys, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is popular in European countries, but not well-known in the rest of the world. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President […]
Most Muslim Americans continue to reject violence and extremism. As in 2007, very few see suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians as ever justified in the defense of Islam, and al Qaeda is even less popular than it was then. At the same time, there is extensive concern among Muslim Americans about […]
China’s overall image is positive in most of the nations surveyed, with European views, in particular, improving over the past year. In Asia, opinion is mixed: majorities in Pakistan and Indonesia are favorably inclined toward China, while Indians tend to be uncertain about the region’s other growing economic powerhouse, and a majority of Japanese have […]
Three-Year Study Finds One-Third of Global Population Experiences An Increase Washington,D.C. — More than2.2 billion people, nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9billion, live in countries where either government restrictions on religion orsocial hostilities involving religion rose substantially between mid-2006 andmid-2009, according to a new study on global restrictions on religion […]
The popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries captured the attention of publics both inside and outside the region. Impressive majorities in Arab countries report following news about the political demonstrations. Turks also paid close attention to the uprisings. Indonesians and Pakistanis, however, focused less on the dramatic political changes. Most people […]
The economy remained the No. 1 story for the ninth consecutive week while the 2012 presidential race continued its recent spike in coverage last week. And dramatic developments regarding Syria and Libya drove Mideast coverage to its highest level in nearly three months.
Support for democracy is widespread in the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed. Majorities or pluralities in the seven nations say democracy is preferable to any other kind of government, and many increasingly believe that a democratic government, rather than a strong leader, can best solve national problems. When asked to choose between a good democracy and […]
The image of the United States remains overwhelmingly negative in predominantly Muslim countries. U.S. favorability ratings are low in nearly all of the Muslim nations surveyed, and majorities or pluralities in all seven say the U.S. does not take the interests of countries like theirs into account when making foreign policy decisions. Moreover, many continue […]
