Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
When leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion gather in Canterbury, England, in mid-July for their decennial Lambeth Conference, they will deliberate over the future of a church that is experiencing deep, and perhaps irreconcilable, internal conflicts. Already, about a third of the 38 Anglican primates, or regional leaders, have announced that they are boycotting the […]
As has been the case in recent years, people around the world hold mostly negative views of Iran. Majorities or pluralities in 20 of the 24 countries surveyed express unfavorable opinions about the largely Shia nation, and opinions are often as negative in other Muslim nations as they are in other parts of the world. […]
The latest Pew Global Attitudes survey finds some encouraging signs for America’s global image for the first time this decade. Although views of the United States remain negative in much of the world, favorable ratings have increased modestly since 2007 in 10 of 21 countries where comparative data are available. Many people around the world are paying close attention to the U.S. presidential election.
Of the three major European leaders for whom confidence levels were investigated in 2008, Pew data show that German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives the highest praise for having good judgment in foreign affairs. The opposite is the case for Vladimir Putin: During this time of political transition from Russian president to prime minister, Putin’s ratings […]
As the international spotlight turns to China and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, international publics are showing signs of apprehension about the country and its growing power. Overall, favorable views of China have declined slightly over the last year, and this is especially true in Asia, as well as in Western nations, where enthusiasm for the […]
Benefits and Drawbacks of Trade and Integration
(from Harvard International Review)
America’s image has improved over the last year in many countries included in the survey, with particularly strong increases in Tanzania, South Korea, and Indonesia. In most countries surveyed, however, views of the United States remain either mixed or negative. Among America’s traditional allies in Western Europe, the U.S. continues to receive largely negative reviews. […]
Relatively few Americans say they look to religion as the primary source of their views on social and political issues. Nevertheless, the Landscape Survey confirms the strong links that exist between Americans’ religious affiliation, their beliefs and practices, and their basic social and political attitudes. Religion may, in fact, be playing a more powerful, albeit […]
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 […]
The bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released a report on May 2 that listed 11 “countries of particular concern” – countries whose governments have allowed or participated in violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. Although the commission did not list Iraq as one of the 11 countries, it said […]