Youth think ‘war on terror’ is counter-productive: poll
LONDON: Young people overwhelmingly believe the US-led "war on terror" is not making the world safer, according to a poll conducted in major cities across the globe. The survey of youngsters aged 15-17, which was conducted for the BBC in New York, Nairobi, Cairo, Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Baghdad, Delhi, Jakarta, Moscow and London, found that only 14 per cent of respondents thought US policy in Iraq and Afghanistan was making the world a safer place, while 71 per cent said it was not. The remaining 15 per cent did not know or declined to answer.
Negative views of the "war on terror" were strongest in Baghdad (98 per cent) and Rio (92 per cent).
Asked if they "would consider taking action that could result in innocent people dying if they felt very strongly about a cause", 17 per cent said they would. The figure was highest in Baghdad (34 per cent), followed by Jakarta (31 per cent) and London (25 per cent).
Religion figured strongly in the teenagers' lives, with 86 per cent saying they believed in God or a higher being. Although 66 per cent thought religion a force for good, a significant proportion – 20 per cent - viewed it as a source of conflict. In Baghdad, 64 per cent considered it so.
Just over a third (34 per cent) said they were prepared to marry someone from a different religion. That figure was highest in Nairobi (52 per cent) and New York (50 per cent), and lowest in Baghdad (4 per cent).
The teenagers also took a favourable view of immigration, with 79 per cent saying people should be able to live in whichever country they choose. Sixty-four per cent said they would emigrate to secure a better future and 14 per cent said they would risk their life to do so.
Oddly, the largest numbers of those who had no intention of emigrating were found in the troubled city of Baghdad (50 per cent).
Opinion was divided as to whether those who move to a new country should keep apart to maintain their own beliefs and culture (38 per cent), or integrate and adopt the culture of their new country (49 per cent).
Only 51 per cent of respondents said they had heard of climate change and understood what it was, and among those only 34 per cent have changed their behaviour as a result. A majority (52 per cent) said they would not lower their standard of living to reduce the effects of climate change.
The vast majority (85 per cent overall) thought crime was generally increasing in their country, but only 6 per cent said they would consider stealing if they really wanted something and could not afford it. Sixteen per cent said they would commit a crime in order to become an instant millionaire if they knew they could get away with it -- a figure which rose to 37 per cent in Nairobi and 31 per cent in London.
Overall, 17 per cent said they would consider cheating to get into university.
The poll, for the BBC World Service, was conducted by research agency Synovate in October, with 300 or more interviews in each city. Questions about religion and terrorism were not permitted in Egypt because of government restrictions. —Dawn/Guardian News Service
