Xenophobia on the Continent
(from The National Interest)
(from The National Interest)
Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in December, 2008, for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book, The Shia Revival, surveyed the geo-political landscape of today’s Middle East, arguing that the 2003 invasion of Iraq has fundamentally […]
Among the Muslim respondents in the survey, most endorse a woman’s right to decide whether to wear a veil, including more than 80% of Muslims in Turkey, Indonesia, and Lebanon. Still, sizeable minorities of Muslims in several countries – and a majority in Nigeria – disagree with this view. In several countries, women are more […]
The current survey reveals ongoing concerns about a number of threats and conflicts within the Muslim world. Among the eight Muslim publics included in the survey, there is widespread concern about the rise of Islamic extremism both within their countries and in the world more broadly. Many also see a conflict taking place within their […]
Growing numbers of people in several major European countries say they have an unfavorable opinion of Jews, and opinions of Muslims also are more negative than they were several years ago. These findings are from a new Pew Global Attitudes Project report, based on data gathered from 24 countries from regions throughout the world, that examine worldwide religiosity and take a close look at Muslim publics’ attitudes toward terrorism, Osama bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah and more.
Overall, respondents from the countries in the survey with sizeable Muslim populations express positive opinions about Saudi Arabia. In these nations, favorable views of the Saudi Kingdom are far more common than favorable views of other major countries, and are especially widespread in Pakistan and Jordan. Attitudes toward the U.S. are largely negative, and Iran […]
World Already Saw U.S. Influence as Negative
In most countries surveyed, majorities consider religion an essential part of their lives. However, younger people are generally less likely to say religion is very important to them. This is especially true in Western Europe, where relatively few young people say religion plays a key role in their lives, but the same pattern can be […]
In many countries, negative attitudes toward Muslims and Jews are common, and unfavorable views toward both groups have increased in Europe in recent years. Moreover, there is a strong relationship between anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim sentiments in the West. Indeed, among the U.S. and the six European countries included in the survey, the correlation between unfavorable […]
Oct. 27 marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the International Religious Freedom Act, a law that made the promotion of religious freedom a basic aim of U.S. foreign policy. The passage of the legislation marked the culmination of a campaign of unlikely religious allies, who went on to champion other international human rights […]