Europe & Russia

A 47-nation survey finds that as economic growth has surged in much of Latin America, East Europe and Asia over the past five years, people are expressing greater satisfaction with their personal lives, family incomes and national conditions. The picture is different in most advanced nations, where growth has been less robust and citizen satisfaction has changed little since 2002.

In many countries around the globe, gay and lesbian couples are seeking the right to marry or enter into other legally recognized forms of domestic partnerships. The legal definition of marriage is in flux, particularly in the developed world.

A 47-nation survey finds global public opinion increasingly wary of the world’s dominant nations and disapproving of their leaders. Anti-Americanism is extensive, as it has been for the past five years. At the same time, the image of China has slipped significantly among the publics of other major nations.

Washington, D.C. Europeans and Americans approach the relationship between church and state differently. European churches, for instance, often receive official sanction and substantial financial support from the government. In the United States, on the other hand, the government recognizes no church, and whatever aid it provides is usually indirect and substantially more limited. Even ideas […]

Increasingly Reviled in the West, Russia’s Leader Enjoys Broad Support at Home

Key West, Florida Some of the nation’s leading journalists and distinguished scholars gathered in Key West, Fla., in December 2006 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Peter Berger, professor emeritus of religion, sociology and theology at Boston University, examined the globalization of religious pluralism and how the […]

Except in France, most Muslim women choose to cover their heads -- but many among the general public disapprove

Washington, D.C. Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Turkey on Nov. 28-30, a trip that has already attracted exceptionally close attention because of the pope’s remarks about Islam during a September speech in Regensburg, Germany. More than 50 Islamic nations have demanded an apology for the speech, which aroused anger in the Islamic world […]

When Muslim youths rioted in French suburbs last year, critics were quick to fault the French assimilation model. But recent findings suggest that the French can claim some success.

Is France Doing a Better Job of Integration than Its Critics?