February 10, 2020

Global Attitudes & Trends

A biweekly digest of the Center's latest findings from its worldwide public opinion surveys and demographic research · Subscribe ↗

VICE PRESIDENT'S NOTE

What is the purpose of NATO?

In recent years, the future of NATO has been debated on both sides of the Atlantic. Our new survey of 16 nations highlights diverging trends in public support for the alliance. In Eastern Europe, Lithuanians and Poles increasingly embrace NATO, while to the West, Germans and French express growing skepticism. The obligation of mutual defense is a particularly divisive issue, with many publics reluctant to use military force to defend a NATO ally attacked by Russia. If not for mutual defense, then what is the purpose of NATO? That would appear to be a question on the minds of more than policymakers in member states.

James Bell

Vice President of Global Strategy, Pew Research Center

Photo: NATO’s flag flies as a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter passes over the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai in 2016.

NATO seen favorably across member states

NATO is generally seen in a positive light across publics within the alliance, despite lingering tensions between the leaders of individual member countries. A median of 53% across 16 member countries surveyed have a favorable view of the organization, with only 27% expressing a negative view. But there is widespread reluctance to fulfill the collective defense commitment outlined in Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty.

Photo: A street mural of the Iranian flag in Tehran in October 2017.

Before Soleimani’s death, concerns about Iran had fallen in many countries – including the U.S.

Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated in the wake of American airstrikes that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3, 2020. Here are findings drawn from our spring 2019 global survey about perceptions of Iran as a threat, how other Middle Eastern and North African countries view the country’s role in the region and how people around the world view U.S. policy toward Iran.

Photo: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (center) attends the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 2019.

Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman garners little trust from people in the region and the U.S.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and next in line for the kingdom’s throne. Here are perceptions of Crown Prince Mohammed in the U.S. and among those in countries in the Middle East-North Africa region.

Photo: A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer photographs a woman who had just arrived from Nigeria.

Fast facts about Nigeria and its immigrants as U.S. travel ban expands

President Donald Trump has added Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, to a list of countries whose residents face restrictions on travel into the US. With the new policy set to take effect on Feb. 22, here are some fast facts about Nigeria and its immigrants in the U.S., based on previously published Pew Research Center studies.

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, D.C., last month.

Few in other countries approve of Trump’s major foreign policies, but Israelis are an exception

Evaluations of President Trump's signature foreign policies generally are negative around the world, according to a new analysis of a spring 2019 Pew Research Center survey. Similar to the lack of confidence that many people outside the US express in Trump’s performance as a world leader, respondents in many countries disapprove of his international policymaking.

Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a gala at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre on Dec. 26.

Russia and Putin receive low ratings globally

Globally, people tend to express little confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to do the right thing regarding world affairs. And views of Russia itself mirror these negative evaluations of Putin. In most of the 33 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center in 2019, less than half of adults see Russia favorably.