Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Defense & National Security

Filtering by:
Reset

  • report

    Bush’s Concern Over Isolationism Reflects More Than Just Rhetoric

    When President Bush delivered a strong warning against isolationism in Tuesday’s State of the Union address, he was speaking to a recent and dramatic turn in public opinion. A recent Pew Research survey found a decided revival of isolationist sentiment among the public, to levels not seen since post-Cold War 1990s and the post-Vietnam 1970s. […]

  • report

    Public Unmoved by Washington’s Rhetoric on Iraq

    Summary of Findings The political debate over the Iraq war has grown more pointed in recent weeks, as President Bush has embarked upon a series of high-profile speeches defending the war and Democratic Rep. John Murtha has made headlines with his calls for a withdrawal of U.S. forces. But fundamental public attitudes toward the war […]

  • report

    Opinion Leaders Turn Cautious, Public Looks Homeward

    Introduction and Summary Preoccupied with war abroad and growing problems at home, U.S. opinion leaders and the general public are taking a decidedly cautious view of America’s place in the world. Over the past four years, opinion leaders have become less supportive of the United States playing a “first among equals” role among the world’s […]

  • report

    Alito Viewed Positively, But Libby Takes a Toll

    Summary of Findings President George W. Bush’s approval ratings have fallen to another new low, amid a growing focus on alleged ethical lapses in his administration. Just 36% now believe that Bush has lived up to his campaign pledge to restore integrity to the White House. In contrast, fully 79% of Americans say the recent […]

  • report

    About the Survey

    Results for this survey are based on telephone interviews conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International among a nationwide sample of 1,201 adults, 18 years of age or older, from November 3-6, 2005. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling […]

  • transcript

    In God’s Name? Evaluating the Links between Religious Extremism and Terrorism

    Washington, D.C. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life interviewed Dr. Robert A. Pape on Oct. 21, 2005, following the roundtable on “In God’s Name? Evaluating the Links between Religious Extremism and Terrorism,” co-sponsored by the Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Pape is an associate professor of political science at the […]

  • report

    Economic Pessimism Grows, Gas Prices Pinch

    Summary of Findings A summer’s worth of bad news, culminating with Hurricane Katrina, has taken a toll on the public’s mood, particularly when it comes to views of the economy and energy costs. The public’s economic expectations, while hardly robust in the spring, have grown much more negative. Nearly four-in-ten (37%) think economic conditions will […]

  • report

    Abortion and Rights of Terror Suspects Top Court Issues

    Abortion has dominated the early skirmishing over President Bush’s nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But the public takes a more expansive view of the court’s agenda. Indeed, about as many Americans rate the rights of detained terrorist suspects as a very important issue for the Supreme Court as say that about abortion. […]