Defense & National Security

Overview President Obama faces an uphill battle in making the case for U.S. military action in Syria. By a 48% to 29% margin, more Americans oppose than support conducting military airstrikes against Syria in response to reports that the Syrian government used chemical weapons. The new national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Aug. […]

In the debate over whether the United States and one or more of its NATO allies should launch a military strike against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over its alleged use of chemical weapons, much has been made of the need for multilateral sanction for such an effort, either by the U.N. Security Council or NATO.

The UN Security Council failed Wednesday to reach agreement on a British-sponsored resolution authorizing approval of taking action against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons. A 2011 Pew Research poll found publics in most countries surveyed did not support the principle of obtaining UN approval first.

While the U.S. and several of its allies in NATO review options for military action against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons, such action is reportedly not likely to be under the umbrella of NATO. Support for NATO in member countries has waned.

Even before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was accused of using chemical weapons, he was widely unpopular with publics in neighboring countries.

Professional journalists have long faced the risks of working in harm's way, but now conflicts like the one in Syria are claiming the lives of a new part of the media -- citizen journalists.

Americans have consistently opposed U.S. involvement in the Syrian conflict, but have offered a somewhat different response when asked how they would respond if there is proof that President Bashar Assad’s forces attacked civilians with chemical weapons.

Overview With violence continuing to rage in Egypt, 51% of Americans say it is better for the United States to cut off military aid to Egypt to put pressure on the government. This is nearly double the percentage (26%) saying it is better to continue military aid to the government in order to maintain influence […]

On the 68th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, publics in some countries in Asia -- notably South Korea and China -- believe that Japan still has not sufficiently apologized for its actions during the conflict.

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