Publications

Our 2014 Global Attitudes survey in 44 countries asked which among five dangers was considered to be the “greatest threat to the world.” Many in the Middle East said religious and ethnic hatred was the greatest threat, while Europeans tended to choose inequality. Africans are more concerned with AIDS and other infectious diseases, while scattered countries, many with good reason, chose the spread of nuclear weapons or pollution and environmental problems as the top danger.

Publics across the globe see the threat of religious and ethnic violence as a growing threat to the world’s future, with concern especially strong in the Middle East.

The Roman Catholic Church signaled a more accepting stance toward gay people in a report bishops released during the Vatican’s synod on the family this week, a position already embraced by a majority of American Catholics, particularly younger adults.

Only nine major-party candidates have won a second presidential nomination after losing a previous election, and only four of those won the second time around.

With parliamentary elections approaching later this month, Tunisian support for democracy has declined steeply since the early days of the Arab Spring. Just 48% of Tunisians now say democracy is preferable to other kinds of government, down from 63% in a 2012 poll conducted only months after a popular uprising removed longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from office.

Nationwide, 52% of Americans support gay marriage. In the South, 44% of people support gay marriage – well below the East (61%), West (58%) and Midwest (52%).

Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have received more media coverage than other potential 2016 presidential candidates, as of September 2014.