Defense & National Security

On the occasion of President Obama's last State of the Union address, a look back at his first congressional address – his priorities, those of the public at the time and what's happened in the years since.

When GOP presidential candidates meet in Las Vegas tonight for their sixth debate, terrorism, foreign policy and national security are expected to be major topics.

Survey Report Following the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., the public’s concerns about terrorism have surged and positive ratings of the government’s handling of terrorism have plummeted. But other attitudes relating to terrorism and security, as well as perceptions of whether Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence, have […]

The three countries on the pope’s itinerary -- Uganda, Kenya and the Central African Republic -- all have sizable Catholic populations. But they also have seen violent clashes in recent years.

Most people in the countries we surveyed – including 11 countries with significant Muslim populations – had negative views of the Islamic State extremist group as of spring.

Survey Report The public has mixed reactions to the U.S. response to the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving in Europe in recent weeks. By a narrow 51%-45% margin, more approve than disapprove of the U.S. decision to increase the number of refugees it accepts to help deal with this situation. When asked […]

Pope Francis has urged European Catholics to take in some of the thousands of migrants streaming in from Syria and other countries amid the world’s largest refugee crisis on record, and in his address to Congress today he urged leaders to welcome and respect immigrants coming to the U.S. But just how closely public opinion aligns with the pope’s […]

Although Europe is struggling to manage the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere, the countries facing the biggest refugee impacts are the ones closest to the fighting.

Americans see a number of economic threats from China, but they are also worried about cyberattacks, Bejing's human rights record, China's impact on the environment and its growing military strength.

Survey Report As Congress prepares to vote on the Iran nuclear agreement, public support for the deal has declined. Currently, just 21% approve of the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program reached between the United States, Iran and other nations. Nearly half (49%) disapprove of the agreement, while three-in-ten (30%) offer no opinion. In mid-July, a […]