Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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 […]
U.S. President Barack Obama remains popular in most parts of the world, and this is especially true in Western Europe, where large majorities express at least some confidence in the American president to do the right thing in world affairs. More than half in Lithuania, Poland, Japan, Brazil, Indonesia and Kenya also give Obama high […]
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.
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 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 […]
America’s image remains positive in most of the nations surveyed, and favorable ratings are particularly high in Europe. In most predominantly Muslim countries, however, views of the United States continue to be overwhelmingly negative. For the most part, opinions of the U.S. have changed little, if at all, in most countries for which trends are […]
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.