Defense & National Security

Overview A majority of Americans – 56% – say that federal courts fail to provide adequate limits on the telephone and internet data the government is collecting as part of its anti-terrorism efforts. An even larger percentage (70%) believes that the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism. And despite the insistence […]

A global Pew Research Center survey finds a large gender gap in attitudes about U.S. government use of drones to target terrorists.

Elections in Japan on July 21 to choose half of the members of the the upper house of Japan’s Diet may be a referendum on changing constitutional limits on the country's military posture.

More than three-quarters of Americans continue to believe that members of the military contribute “a lot” to society’s well-being. By contrast, only 37% say clergy make a big contribution to society, and journalists have dropped the most in public esteem since 2009.

A majority of Americans say reports of sexual assaults in the military represent individual acts of misconduct and not underlying problems with military culture.

Overview The public is divided over whether the leak of classified information about NSA phone and internet surveillance serves the public interest. But a majority says that former government contractor Edward Snowden should be criminally prosecuted. The new national survey, conducted June 12-16 by the Pew Research Center and USA TODAY among 1,512 adults, finds […]

Public opinion surveys have consistently shown Americans to have little interest in the Syrian conflict and have been opposed -- or lukewarm, at best, -- to getting involved.

Overview A substantial majority of Americans (81%) view sexual assault in the military as an extremely or very important issue. But the public does not believe the problem of sexual assault is a bigger problem in the military than outside it: Just 11% say it is more of a problem inside the military, 23% say […]