Political Issues

The number of UN peacekeeping forces around the world has peaked in recent months after falling off in the late 1990s, following a period of trial and error for UN interventions.

When it comes to potential trade-offs between the environment and the economy, most Americans say stricter environmental regulations are worth the cost, while fewer say stricter environmental regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy.

Many people around the world consider free expression in cyberspace to be a fundamental right.

Much of the focus has been on government surveillance, though there are also significant concerns about how businesses use data.

After rising steadily for nearly a century, the share of older Americans who live alone has fallen since 1990, largely because women ages 65 to 84 are increasingly likely to live with their spouse or their children.

Two decades ago, Gen Xers, then in their teens and 20s, stood out for their lack of confidence in the nation’s prospects. And two decades before that, Boomers were less bullish than their elders in assessing America's future.

Is the U.S. economic system fair to most Americans, or is it “rigged” to favor the rich and powerful?

The view that torture may be justified is most common in sub-Saharan Africa, where a median of 55% hold this view; it is least common in Latin America (a median of 25%). In the U.S., 58% say torture can be justified as part of efforts to prevent terrorist attacks.

Half of Americans say the next president should be careful not to criticize Islam as a whole when speaking about Islamic extremists, while four-in-ten want the next president to speak bluntly about Islamic extremists even if the statements are critical of Islam as a whole.