Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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.
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 […]
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 […]
Overview Major events in the Middle East –including tensions between the U.S. and Israel, growing political unrest in many Arab countries, and the death of Osama bin Laden – have had little effect on public attitudes toward the region. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, far more Americans continue to say they sympathize with Israel rather than […]
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.
Despite signs that some countries are recovering from the Great Recession of 2008-2009, economic times remain tough for many around the world. In most of the nations surveyed, people are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country and downbeat about their national economy. The few exceptions to this pattern include publics in […]
Westerners and Muslims generally agree that relations between them are poor. On balance, the Western publics polled tend to say relations are bad, and the same is true among the Muslim publics in the survey, with the exception of Indonesia, where views are divided. However, Westerners are less likely to believe relations are poor today […]
Evangelical Protestant leaders who live in the Global South generally are optimistic about the prospects for evangelicalism in their countries: 71% expect that five years from now the state of evangelicalism in their countries will be better than it is today. But those who live in the Global North expect that the state of evangelicalism in their countries will either stay about the same (21%) or worsen (33%) over the next five years.
As Turks prepare for national elections on June 12, they are increasingly upbeat about the direction of their country. And at a time when publics around the world generally remain gloomy about their economies, Turks are becoming more positive.