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August 17, 2003
Review: Reading people’s minds
DURING the US war on Iraq, global public opinion emerged as a new potent force that, many hoped, could ultimately counterbalance the unbridled power of the world’s sole superpower. Not surprisingly, the first effort to investigate the nature of the world public opinion on contemporary political and social issues has been made by the prestigious Washington-based Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press.
View of a Changing World 2003 is the second report of the Pew Global Attitudes Project of the Centre headed by the former US Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. The extremely interesting report, based on a survey of more than 38,000 people in 44 nations, comes at a time of significant global changes and gives us a chance to peep inside people’s minds all over the world.
The earlier report What the World Thinks in 2002 was released last December. It looked at two contrasting trends: continued strong support for American ideals and values alongside growing criticism of US unilateralism in foreign policy. The current report focuses on global reaction to the war in Iraq, world attitudes to American war on terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian situation, Iran, Syria and North Korea. It also measures changes in attitudes towards the US over the past year.
The first section of the report dealing with the “Post-War Opinion” shows that the US image has taken a serious battering since the Gulf war. There are only seven countries where majorities show a favourable attitude towards the US. Predictably Israel is at the top of the list where 79 per cent people have a positive attitude towards the US. With 63 per cent of the population expressing their support for the US, Kuwait is the only Muslim country on the list. In fact, the lowest rating for the US was found in the Muslim countries. Only one percent Palestinians and Jordanians were found to have a positive image of the US, whereas it was 13 per cent in Pakistan.
How the war on Iraq has affected the Muslim attitudes towards the US is exemplified by the case of Indonesia where a positive attitude towards the US dropped from 61 per cent to 15 per cent within a year. Interestingly, people seem to distinguish between the state and the citizens of the US. Despite a general dislike for American foreign policy, respondents in 14 out of 21 countries surveyed showed a favourable attitude towards the Americans. In Indonesia, 56 per cent had a positive attitude towards Americans while 38 per cent Pakistanis had a positive image of Americans.
Those who opposed America mostly felt that President Bush rather than America in general was to be blamed for their feelings towards the US. In Pakistan, for example, 62 per cent people felt that Bush was the main source of trouble. Ambivalence towards the US is obvious from the fact that most people admired American technological and scientific achievement. Even in Palestinian territories where only one per cent showed a positive attitude towards the US, 62 per cent said they admired American technologies. While people said they liked American music, movies and television, majorities in most countries also expressed dislike to growing US influence on their cultures.
The second and one of the most interesting sections of the report deals with the survey findings on the Muslim opinion on issues including political freedom, the role of religion in government, the role of women, freedom of expression, freedom of press, multi-party electoral system, and equal treatment under law. The survey finds a growing support for a prominent role for Islam and religious leaders among Muslim populations everywhere. In Pakistan, for example, no less than 86 per cent respondents said that Islam should play a large role in political life. In most Muslim countries, majorities also supported a larger role for religious leaders in politics. In Pakistan, 63 per cent respondents supported such a role.
Interestingly, large majorities in Muslim countries also expressed democratic aspirations and expressed strong desire for freedom of speech, freedom of press and free and contested elections. The survey found considerable discontent with political rights and civil liberties as they now exist. There was tension over women’s roles in Muslim societies. Majorities in only six out of fourteen nations in which the question was asked completely agreed that women should be permitted to work outside the home. In Pakistan, only 33 per cent respondents answered that question in the positive.
The report also looks at the process of democratization in the developing world and the world reaction to the process of globalization. The report claims that “people almost everywhere like globalization”. However, by looking at the responses one may also conclude that people do not understand globalization very well and are not able to make the right connections between the cultural and economic changes they dislike to the processes of the globalization.
An unexpected finding of the report is the people’s support for the institutions associated with the process of globalization i.e, World Bank, IMF and WTO. An influence of media and official sermonizing is obvious on people’s responses on this issue. While a large number of people felt that growing trade and business ties was very good for their country, most of them felt that it was not good for them personally. As the survey concludes, people are unwilling to link problems like economic inequality, the lack of well-paid jobs and poor working conditions to globalization. Similarly, except for the US itself, most people felt that their way of life needed defending. But they did not seem to realize that globalization was the greatest threat to world’s cultural diversity.
What can be seen as another dangerous trend is the fact that larger majorities in several countries feel that their culture is superior, that it needs defending and that other lands are rightfully theirs. Interestingly, people in India are most likely to agree with all three statements. No less than 74 per cent Indians feel that their culture is superior, 61 per cent feel that it needs protection against foreign influence and 60 per cent feel that parts of other countries “belong to us”. Half of Pakistan’s population appears to agree with all the three statements, thus showing more moderation than its neighbour.
The survey, despite its strengths, cannot be called truly representative of the public opinion in all the countries surveyed. It was carried out in cities, leaving out the rural areas where majorities live in most developing countries. We are not told about he choice of the cities and the criteria for it. However, being the only research of its kind, the report is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the winds of change blowing in the world today.
Views of a Changing World 2003
The Pew Global Attitudes Project
The Pew Centre for the People and the Press, 1150 18th Street, N.W., Suite 975. Washington D.C. 20036.
Tel (202) 293-3126 Fax (202) 293-2569
Website: www.people-press.org
136pp. Price not listed
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