Terrorism

Three-quarters of Americans said in the wake of the Boston bombings that occasional acts of terrorism will be part of U.S. life in the future.

Just over half of Democrats and Republicans think news organizations should not report the government’s secret anti-terrorism methods.

Overview A majority of Americans – 56% – say that federal courts fail to provide adequate limits on the telephone and internet data the government is collecting as part of its anti-terrorism efforts. An even larger percentage (70%) believes that the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism. And despite the insistence […]

A global Pew Research Center survey finds a large gender gap in attitudes about U.S. government use of drones to target terrorists.

Overview A majority of Americans – 56% – say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate terrorism, though a substantial minority – 41% – say it is unacceptable. And while the public is more evenly divided over the government’s […]

Since 9/11, Americans generally have valued protection from terrorism over civil liberties, yet they also have expressed concerns over government overreach and intrusions on their personal privacy.

One near-certainty on which President Obama can count in his renewed effort to close the prison at Guantanamo is support from rank-and-file Democrats who have consistently backed him on this issue.

In his address Thursday on U.S. counterterrorism policy, President Obama defended the use of drones, which has the support of the U.S. public but is strongly opposed abroad.

Overview The public paid limited attention to last week’s congressional hearings on Benghazi. Fewer than half (44%) of Americans say they are following the hearings very or fairly closely, virtually unchanged from late January when Hillary Clinton testified. Last October, 61% said they were following the early stages of the investigation at least fairly closely. […]

As the country prepares for this weekend’s elections, the Taliban has significantly stepped up its attacks. And no matter which party emerges victorious from the May 11 poll, it will have to answer to a public that is increasingly worried about the threat extremism poses to the Pakistani state.