Defense & National Security

Overview A majority of Americans – 56% – say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate terrorism, though a substantial minority – 41% – say it is unacceptable. And while the public is more evenly divided over the government’s […]

Since 9/11, Americans generally have valued protection from terrorism over civil liberties, yet they also have expressed concerns over government overreach and intrusions on their personal privacy.

Hezbollah is widely unpopular among publics in the Middle East. Most in Lebanon, which is Hezbollah's base, have an unfavorable view of it, but opinions differ among religious groups.

One near-certainty on which President Obama can count in his renewed effort to close the prison at Guantanamo is support from rank-and-file Democrats who have consistently backed him on this issue.

Almost nine in 10 retired military leaders said cyber attacks from China are a serious problem for the United States.

Although veterans had mixed feelings about whether the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were worth fighting, 96% of them felt proud of their service.

In his address Thursday on U.S. counterterrorism policy, President Obama defended the use of drones, which has the support of the U.S. public but is strongly opposed abroad.

As the nation prepares to celebrate Memorial Day, most Americans have feelings of pride in the soldiers who fought in America’s post-9/11 conflicts. But the public that will be observing the holiday is also one increasingly disconnected from the military.

As Secretary of State John Kerry visits the Middle East this week in the hope of reinvigorating the dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process, he will confront considerable public skepticism in the region about the prospects for peace.

As Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with President Obama today, his calls for more Western aid to Syrian rebels put him at odds with Turkish public opinion. A Pew Research survey conducted earlier this spring found that 68% of Turks opposed Western countries sending weapons and other supplies to anti-government rebels in Syria — […]