Summary of Findings As Barack Obama prepares to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president and frame his campaign message for the fall, many Americans still do not have a clear understanding of where he stands on the issues. Public awareness of Obama’s policy positions has increased modestly over the past month. Still, fewer than […]
Despite the negative views of the United States expressed by many people around the world, the U.S. receives largely positive reviews for the way it treats its own people. When respondents are asked whether the U.S., France, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran respect the personal freedoms of their country’s people, the American and French […]
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 […]
Summary of Findings The China Olympics are catching on with the American public and attracting a sizeable news audience. A majority of Americans say they are watching at least some of the Olympic coverage. Public interest in the Beijing games is comparable to that of the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney; yet substantially lower than […]
Publics around the world show signs of apprehension about China’s growing economic power, its role in foreign affairs and the safety of the products it exports, but the Chinese are confident that the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing will change the way their country is viewed. By nearly unanimous margins, Chinese respondents say their country […]
The environment continues to be a cause of major concern for publics around the world. Majorities in 14 of the 24 countries surveyed rate global warming as a very serious problem, and the proportion offering that view has increased since last year in 11 of the 20 countries for which trends are available. When asked […]
In the midst of rapidly evolving global economic conditions – notably including a U.S. economic slowdown – people around the world are largely dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country and with their nation’s economic conditions: Majorities in most countries rate their national economic situation as bad and believe things will either […]
One week after sharing headlines equally with John McCain, Barack Obama again dominated the news last week. And even as McCain and Obama sparred over energy, the old question of what do the Clintons want generated major coverage.
Overview More Americans now say that the United States is less respected in the world than it has been in the past, and a growing proportion views this as a major problem for the country. More than seven-in-ten Americans (71%) say that the United States is less respected by other countries these days, up from […]