Worries about Islamic extremism are widespread among the nations surveyed, with majorities in the U.S., Russia, Western Europe and Israel as well as among most Muslim publics in the Middle East and Asia expressing concern about the presence of extremists within their borders. Compared with five years ago, however, worries have subsided somewhat in several […]
The Government Restrictions Index (GRI) measures limits imposed by governments on religious beliefs and practices. The 10-point index is based on 20 questions used by the Pew Forum to gauge the extent to which governments at any level – national, provincial or local – try to control religious groups or individuals, prohibit conversions from one […]
Muslim Americans appear to be highly assimilated into American society and they are largely content with their lives. More than six-in-ten do not see a conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society, and a similar number say that most Muslims coming to the U.S. today want to adopt an American […]
Muslim and Western publics continue to largely agree that relations between them are poor, and disagree about who is at fault – Muslims largely blame Westerners, while those in the West generally blame Muslims. However, in both Western and predominantly Muslim nations, there is a shared concern about the threat posed by Islamic extremism.
With more and more partisans choosing up sides on the issue, the Occupy Wall Street protests continued to fuel economic coverage last week. Mitt Romney took front and center in the 2012 presidential campaign, and the unraveling of an Iranian plot on U.S. soil raised more questions than answers.
The multiple attacks that struck Norway echoed throughout social media last week. This special edition of PEJ’s New Media Index is an in-depth look at the complex conversation on blogs, where the ideological views of the assailant, Anders Behring Breivik, became a significant point of discussion.
The Social Hostilities Index (SHI) measures hostile acts by private individuals, organizations and social groups that restrict religious beliefs and practices. The 10-point index is based on 13 questions used by the Pew Forum to gauge the level of hostilities both between and within religious groups, including mob or sectarian violence, crimes motivated by religious […]
Restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%) between mid-2006 and mid-2009, a new Pew Forum report shows. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third of the world’s population – live in the 23 countries with increasing government restrictions or social hostilities involving religion.
There were no late summer news doldrums last week as the apparent conclusion of a civil war and a pair of natural disasters topped the news. The rebel takeover of Libya generated the biggest week of attention to that conflict in five months while an earthquake and a hurricane brought the media focus back to the Northeast United States.
Opinions of Iran remain largely unfavorable across much of the world, and in some predominantly Muslim countries, higher numbers express negative views of the Islamic Republic this year than in previous years. Majorities or pluralities in 17 of 23 countries express an unfavorable opinion of Iran, including most of those surveyed in Egypt, Jordan, and […]