Similarly, President Obama gets poor marks from Pakistanis – only 7% have confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs. And key aspects of American foreign policy are widely unpopular. Most believe the U.S. acts unilaterally on the world stage, and there is widespread opposition to American anti-terrorism efforts.

A 74%-majority of Pakistanis see the U.S. as an enemy, and most think U.S.-Pakistani relations have failed to improve over the last few years. Moreover, for a growing number of Pakistanis, enhancing the relationship between the two countries is not an important priority.

Pakistanis express mixed views about American involvement in the fight against extremist groups. On balance, there is support for American financial and humanitarian aid to areas where these groups operate, as well as for U.S. intelligence and logistical assistance to the Pakistani military. Support for both, however, has declined in recent years. And few back American drone strikes.

Over the last decade, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan in an effort to increase bilateral cooperation and improve its image. But these policies are not seen in a positive light by Pakistanis – many say that both American military and economic assistance are having a negative effect on the country.

Low Ratings for U.S., Obama

Fully 80% of Pakistanis have a negative opinion of the U.S., up seven percentage points from last year. This view has become more common over the course of the Obama era. In 2008, during President George W. Bush’s last year in office, 63% expressed a negative view of the U.S.

Throughout Obama’s presidency, few Pakistanis have held a positive view of the American leader. Today, six-in-ten say they have little or no confidence in him, down slightly from last year, but up from the 51% registered in 2009. Obama’s ratings are very similar to those received by President Bush in 2008, when 61% expressed a lack of confidence in the former president.

U.S. Foreign Policy Distrusted

Pakistanis continue to believe the U.S. acts unilaterally in world affairs. Almost two-thirds (65%) do not think the U.S. considers the interests of countries like Pakistan when it is making foreign policy decisions.

Although this has been the prevailing view among Pakistanis for a decade, the percentage who say the U.S. does not consider their interests is up nine points since last year, and is now higher than at any point since Pew began asking this question in 2002.

American anti-terrorism efforts have also been consistently unpopular in Pakistan over the last decade. In the current poll, 61% say they oppose U.S.-led efforts to combat terrorism, essentially unchanged from 62% last year.

Most Say U.S. an Enemy

Nearly three-in four Pakistanis (74%) consider the U.S. an enemy to their country, while just 8% say it is a partner. One-in-ten believe the U.S. is neither a partner nor an enemy, and 8% offer no opinion.

The percentage describing the U.S. as an enemy has grown steadily since 2010 and is currently at its highest point since 2008.

Those who live in the Punjab province are especially likely to think of the U.S. as an enemy (85%).

Pakistani views about their relationship with China are quite different. Nine-in-ten Pakistanis consider China a partner, while just 2% say it is more of an enemy.

Relations Not Improving

A shrinking minority of Pakistanis believe relations between their country and the U.S. are improving. Only 13% say the bilateral relationship has improved in recent years, while 58% disagree.

Assessments of U.S.-Pakistani relations have grown more negative over the last year, and have become considerably more negative since 2010, when the Pakistani public was almost evenly divided on this question. At that point, 36% said relations had improved and 39% said they had not.

Those who identify with the Tehreek-e-Insaf party – led by government critic Imran Khan – are particularly likely to say relations have not improved: 78% hold this view.

Overall, the goal of improving U.S-Pakistani relations is becoming less important to Pakistanis. Less than half (45%) say enhancing the relationship is important, down from 60% last year and 64% in 2010.

Limited Support for U.S. Help in Fighting Extremists

There is some support for cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan in the fight against extremists. Half want the U.S. to provide financial and humanitarian aid to areas where extremist groups operate, while just one-in-five oppose this idea. Still, support has dropped significantly since 2009, when 72% favored these efforts.

Meanwhile, 37% support the U.S. providing intelligence and logistical assistance to Pakistani troops fighting these groups, while 25% are opposed. Again, support has declined since 2009, when 63% were in favor.

American drone attacks have been consistently unpopular, even if the attacks are coordinated with Pakistani authorities. Only 17% favor the U.S. conducting drone strikes in conjunction with the Pakistani government against leaders of extremist organizations, little changed from 23% in 2010, the first year the question was asked.

Supporters of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party are especially likely to express opposition to American aid and U.S. intelligence and logistical support.

Opposition to Drone Strikes

Just over half of Pakistanis (55%) say they have heard a lot or a little about drone attacks that target leaders of extremist groups. Awareness is considerably higher in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (87%), which borders the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in northwest Pakistan where most drone attacks have taken place.

Among those who have heard a lot or a little, nearly all (97%) consider them a bad thing. Roughly seven-in-ten (69%) believe the U.S. government is conducting these strikes, while another 18% volunteer that they believe both the U.S. and Pakistan are responsible.

Those who are familiar with the drone campaign also overwhelmingly believe the attacks kill too many innocent people (94%). Nearly three-quarters (74%) say they are not necessary to defend Pakistan from extremist organizations.

Meanwhile, those who have heard about the strikes are somewhat divided over whether they are being done with or without approval from the Pakistani government.

U.S. Assistance Having Negative Impact

On balance, American aid efforts are seen in a negative light by Pakistanis. Around four-in-ten (38%) say U.S. economic aid is having a mostly negative impact on Pakistan, while just 12% believe it is mostly positive. Similarly, 40% think American military aid is having a mostly negative effect, while only 8% say it is largely positive.

Both forms of assistance are held in especially low regard by supporters of the Tehreek-e-Insaf party – 59% see U.S. economic aid negatively, and 61% believe American military assistance is having a detrimental impact on Pakistan.

There is no consensus in Pakistan about whether American assistance is largely military or largely designed to help Pakistan develop economically: 18% say it is mostly military; 17% believe it is mostly economic; 22% think it is both equally; and 43% do not know.

Following a year of tensions between their country and the United States, Pakistanis continue to hold highly unfavorable views of the U.S. and offer bleak assessments of the relationship between the two nations.

Roughly three-in-four Pakistanis (74%) consider the U.S. an enemy, up from 69% last year and 64% three years ago. And President Obama is held in exceedingly low regard. Indeed, among the 15 nations surveyed in both 2008 and 2012 by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, Pakistan is the only country where ratings for Obama are no better than the ratings President George W. Bush received during his final year in office (for more, see “Global Opinion of Obama Slips, International Policies Faulted,” released June 13, 2012).

Only 13% of Pakistanis think relations with the U.S. have improved in recent years, down 16 percentage points from 2011. Strengthening the bilateral relationship is also becoming less of a priority for Pakistanis. While 45% still say it is important to improve relations with the U.S., this is down from 60% last year.

Moreover, roughly four-in-ten believe that American economic and military aid is actually having a negative impact on their country, while only about one-in-ten think the impact is positive.

Additionally, over the last few years, Pakistanis have become less willing to work with the U.S. on efforts to combat extremist groups. While 50% still want the U.S. to provide financial and humanitarian aid to areas where extremists operate, this is down from 72% in 2009. Similarly, fewer Pakistanis now want intelligence and logistical support from the U.S. than they did three years ago. And only 17% back American drone strikes against leaders of extremist groups, even if they are conducted in conjunction with the Pakistani government.

Since 2009, the Pakistani public has also become less willing to use its own military to combat extremist groups. Three years ago, 53% favored using the army to fight extremists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but today just 32% hold this view.

Overall, concerns about extremism have ebbed since 2009, when the Pakistan military was battling Taliban-affiliated groups in the Swat Valley area near Islamabad. Then, fully 69% were concerned that extremists might take control of Pakistan, compared with 52% today.

While concerns about extremism may have decreased, extremist organizations remain largely unpopular. Majorities, for example, express a negative opinion of both al Qaeda and the Taliban, as has been the case since 2009. In 2008 – before the peak of the Swat Valley conflict – pluralities expressed no opinion about these organizations.

When Pakistanis are asked more specifically about the Afghan Taliban and Tehrik-i-Taliban (also known as the TTP or Pakistan Taliban), opinions are again, on balance, negative, as they were in both 2010 and 2011.

Views are somewhat more mixed, however, regarding Lashkar-e-Taiba, a radical group active in Kashmir and widely blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Roughly one-in-five Pakistanis (22%) have a favorable view of Lashkar-e-Taiba, while 37% give it a negative rating and 41% offer no opinion.

Meanwhile, a solid majority (64%) offers no opinion about the Haqqani network, a group associated with the Taliban that is active on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but is largely believed to be based in the FATA region of Pakistan.

Respondents in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province consistently express more negative views about extremist groups than those in other provinces. Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban, the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba all receive especially poor ratings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistanis who pray five times per day are also more likely than those who pray less often to offer negative views of extremist groups.

These are among the key findings from a survey of Pakistan by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1,206 respondents between March 28 and April 13. The sample covers approximately 82% of the Pakistani population.¹ The poll in Pakistan is part of the larger 21-nation spring 2012 Pew Global Attitudes survey. Throughout the report, unless otherwise noted, trends from 2011 refer to a survey conducted in Pakistan from May 8-15, 2011, following the May 2, 2011 U.S. military raid that killed Osama bin Laden.² The May 2011 survey showed that, with a few exceptions, the killing of bin Laden had little impact on America’s already low ratings in Pakistan. The current poll reveals that, in some key areas, Pakistani views of the relationship between the two countries have become even more negative in the year since the Abbottabad raid.

High Marks for Khan, Low Ratings for Zardari, Gilani

Pakistanis continue to express considerable discontent with conditions in their own country. About nine-in-ten (87%) are dissatisfied with the country’s direction, barely changed from last year’s 92%. Similarly, 89% describe the national economic situation as bad; 85% held this view in 2011. And overwhelming majorities rate unemployment, crime, terrorism, and corruption as very big problems.

The dismal public mood is reflected in poor ratings for the leaders of the incumbent Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Only 14% view Zardari favorably, little changed from last year, but down significantly from 64% in 2008. Gilani, who was recently convicted of contempt and dismissed from office by Pakistan’s highest court, fares only somewhat better, at 36% favorable. Gilani received similarly poor ratings last year, although as recently as 2010 a majority of Pakistanis expressed a favorable view of him.

The most popular leader included on the survey is Imran Khan. Seven-in-ten Pakistanis offer a favorable opinion of the former cricket star and leader of the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI). This is essentially unchanged from last year, but up significantly from 2010.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also generally well-regarded – about six-in-ten offer a positive view of the leader of the country’s main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Sharif has consistently received high marks in recent years, although his ratings are down somewhat from the 79% registered in 2009.

Slightly more than half rate Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry favorably. Ratings for both the army chief and the chief justice have slipped slightly since 2010. Former President (and military chief) Pervez Musharraf, who has occasionally suggested he may return to Pakistani politics, receives relatively poor ratings.

Meanwhile, the military continues to receive overwhelmingly positive marks from the Pakistani public – 77% say the institution is having a good influence on the country. Roughly six-in-ten (58%) also say this about the court system.

Negative Views of India

Only 22% of Pakistanis have a favorable view of traditional rival India, although this is actually a slight improvement from 14% last year. Moreover, when asked which is the biggest threat to their country, India, the Taliban, or al Qaeda, 59% name India.

Pakistanis have consistently identified India as the top threat since the question was first asked in 2009. The percentage fearing India has increased by 11 points since then, while the percentage naming the Taliban has decreased by nine points.

Despite these negative sentiments, 62% of Pakistanis say it is important to improve relations with India. And roughly two-thirds support more bilateral trade and further talks to try to reduce tensions between the two nations.

Most Indians also want better relations, more trade, and further talks between the two nations. Still, Indian attitudes toward Pakistan remain largely negative. Roughly six-in-ten Indians (59%) express an unfavorable opinion of Pakistan, although this is down slightly from 65% in 2011.

India is not the only country, however, where negative views of Pakistan prevail. Majorities or pluralities give Pakistan a negative rating in six of the seven other countries where this question was asked, including China, Japan, and three predominantly Muslim nations – Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia.

Also of Note

• A 43%-plurality of Pakistanis expect the economy to get worse over the next 12 months, while just 26% think it will improve. Still, there is more optimism than in 2011, when 60% said the country’s economic situation would worsen in the coming year.
• China continues to receive high marks in Pakistan. Nine-in-ten Pakistanis consider China a partner; only 2% say it is more of an enemy.
• Pakistanis and Indians agree that Kashmir should be a priority for their countries. Roughly eight-in-ten Pakistanis and about six-in-ten Indians say it is very important to resolve the dispute over Kashmir.
• Those who identify with Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party are especially likely to oppose American involvement in the battle against extremist groups in Pakistan, including American aid to areas where extremists operate and intelligence and logistical support to the Pakistani army.

Nearly a year ago, as Japan struggled with the devastation wrought by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the United States military launched “Operation Tomodachi,” a major humanitarian aid mission, to help the Japanese government respond to the crisis. The effort made a strong impression on the Japanese people – ratings for the U.S. reached sky-high levels following the American mission. And it was not the first time that relief to those in need has enhanced America’s reputation. In recent years, both Indonesians and Pakistanis have expressed more positive views about the U.S. after receiving significant levels of disaster relief. However, the Indonesian and Pakistani examples also suggest that the impact of humanitarian efforts has its limits.

In Japan, America’s overall image was already quite positive before the tsunami. Roughly two-in-three Japanese respondents (66%) expressed a favorable view of the U.S. in a spring 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. But a year later, in a Pew survey conducted just weeks after the tsunami, 85% gave the U.S. a positive rating, the highest percentage among 23 nations polled. Similarly, a September-October, 2011 survey, conducted by the Japanese Cabinet Office, found 82% expressing a “friendly feeling” toward the U.S., the highest percentage since the annual poll began in 1978.

Of course, many things can affect how people view the U.S., but the aid clearly had an impact. Nearly six-in-ten Japanese (57%) said the U.S. provided a “great deal” of assistance following the disaster, while another 32% said the U.S. gave a “fair amount” of assistance. In contrast, fewer than one-in-five believed the European Union, United Nations, or China had provided a great deal of aid.

Japanese public opinion also shifted on an issue that is frequently a weak spot of America’s global image: the perception that the U.S. tends to ignore the interests of other countries. In 2010, just 31% of Japanese respondents said the U.S. takes into account the interests of countries like Japan; a year later, 51% held this view.

Indonesia is another example of a country where humanitarian efforts led to a more positive image for the U.S.; and importantly, it is an example of improvement in a predominantly Muslim nation where opinions of the U.S. had soured dramatically after the onset of the Iraq war. Prior to Iraq, the U.S. was generally popular in Indonesia, but in a 2003 poll taken after American forces dislodged Saddam Hussein from power, only 15% of Indonesians expressed a favorable opinion of the U.S.

The Pew Global Attitudes Project next surveyed Indonesia in spring 2005, only months after the devastating December 2004 tsunami that struck the Banda Aceh region and other parts of the country. Roughly eight-in-ten (79%) said that post-tsunami aid from the U.S. had improved their impression of America, and positive views of the U.S. more than doubled, rising from 15% in 2003 to 38% in the 2005 poll. Meanwhile, the percentage saying the U.S. takes into account the interests of countries like Indonesia jumped from 25% in 2003 to 59% in 2005.

Still, the Indonesian example also illustrates the limits of the aid effect. Attitudes toward the U.S. improved significantly in 2005, but they did not bounce back to pre-Iraq war levels; and ratings for the U.S. again slipped somewhat in 2006. America’s image did not truly recover until 2009, when President Barack Obama – who lived in Jakarta for several years as a child – took office.

A starker example of the limits of disaster relief is Pakistan. Following a devastating October 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan, the U.S. pledged significant levels of aid, eventually totaling more than $500 million. Shortly after the tragedy, U.S. Chinook helicopters could be seen rescuing victims. A spring 2006 Global Attitudes survey found that the vast majority of Pakistanis were aware of American relief efforts – 85% said they had heard about post-earthquake aid – and views of the U.S. improved modestly, with 27% of Pakistanis giving the U.S. a positive rating, up from 23% the previous year.

There is some evidence that the U.S. assistance did have a long-lasting effect on attitudes at the local level–among those directly impacted by the aid. In a survey conducted four years after the earthquake, researchers Tahir Andrabi and Jishnu Das found that Pakistanis living near the fault line were more likely to express trust in Americans and Europeans than were those living farther away. Andrabi and Das reasoned that this higher level of trust was a result of greater exposure to Western humanitarian aid organizations in these hard hit areas.

But at the national level, Pew surveys illustrate how quickly the goodwill receded. By spring 2007, U.S. favorability had slipped to 15% in Pakistan.

Similarly, the U.S. received no image boost in 2011, despite providing nearly $600 million in disaster relief following the summer 2010 floods that directly affected as many as 20 million Pakistanis. Only 11% of Pakistanis offered a favorable opinion of the U.S. in an April 2011 Pew survey – a decline of six percentage points from 2010. (The poll was conducted prior to the military raid that killed Osama bin Laden, but a subsequent Pew survey in May 2011 found no significant change in overall ratings for the U.S.).

Why no image bump in Pakistan? Distrust of American motives and opposition to key elements of U.S. foreign policy may run too deep in Pakistan for humanitarian efforts to have a significant impact over the long term. About seven-in-ten Pakistanis see the U.S. as an enemy; less than 10% consider it a partner. Most think the U.S. favors archrival India over Pakistan. American anti-terrorism efforts are viewed with suspicion, the drone campaign and the war next door in Afghanistan are widely opposed, and while President Obama receives significantly higher ratings than his predecessor across much of the globe, this is not the case in Pakistan, where Obama gets essentially the same low marks assigned to former President George W. Bush during his tenure.

The lesson for disaster relief efforts is that they are more likely to have a significant effect on public attitudes in countries where there is at least a reservoir of goodwill toward the U.S. In nations such as Pakistan, where countervailing issues and deeply held suspicions drive intense anti-Americanism, enhancing America’s image through humanitarian aid may prove considerably more difficult.

Regarding their own government’s role in the operation, Pakistanis are uncertain – majorities or pluralities say they do not know whether the Pakistani government provided intelligence to the U.S., authorized the operation, or knew bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad.

Along with the killing of bin Laden, another American effort targeting leaders of extremist groups on Pakistani soil is also unpopular: drone strikes. Among Pakistanis who are aware of the drone attacks, about six-in-ten consider them unnecessary.

And Pakistanis are losing enthusiasm for their own government’s battle against extremists – just 37% say they support using the army to fight extremist groups, down from 53% two years ago.

Most Call bin Laden’s Death a Bad Thing

Prior to his death, Osama bin Laden’s popularity had waned considerably in Pakistan. In 2005, 51% of Pakistanis said they had confidence in the terrorist leader to do the right thing in world affairs, but in the spring 2011 poll conducted shortly before his death, only 21% expressed this view.

However, despite the lack of broad support for bin Laden, most Pakistanis (63%) disapprove of the U.S. raid that killed him. Only 10% approve; about a quarter (27%) offer no opinion.

Moreover, when asked, regardless of how they feel about the U.S. military operation, do they think bin Laden’s death is a good or bad thing, 55% say it is a bad thing. Just 14% describe it as a good thing, while roughly one-in-three (32%) do not express an opinion.

While the raid that killed bin Laden has been a major news story in Pakistan, the U.S. and around the world, it is not necessarily an issue of great interest among the Pakistani public. Nearly four-in-ten (37%) say they have followed news about the raid very or somewhat closely, while 39% say they have followed news about it not too closely or not at all closely. One-in-four say they do not know.

Interest in the story is more common among Pakistanis with higher incomes (54% very or somewhat closely), those who have attended at least some intermediate school (53%), and urban residents (46%).

The bin Laden Raid and U.S.-Pakistani Relations

On balance, Pakistanis believe the U.S.-Pakistani relationship, which has been fraught with tensions for years, will suffer as a result of the military operation that killed bin Laden. Roughly half (51%) think relations between the two countries will worsen as a result, while only 4% think relations will improve and 16% say they will remain the same as they have been.

Following bin Laden’s death, Pakistanis became more likely to say the U.S.-Pakistani relationship has worsened in recent years. Prior to the killing of the al Qaeda leader, Pakistanis were divided on the question of whether relations between their country and the U.S. had improved: 35% said yes and 35% said no. After his death, 29% said relations had improved in recent years, while 44% said they had not.

Despite the pessimism about the direction of U.S.-Pakistani relations, most Pakistanis would like to see a strong relationship between the two countries. Six-in-ten say it is important that relations between the U.S. and Pakistan improve; only 22% think this is unimportant.

What Did the Pakistani Government Know?

There is no consensus among Pakistanis regarding the extent to which their government was involved in the military operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

Just 18% think the government knew bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad, Pakistan; 29% say the government did not know this; and a slim majority (53%) has no opinion.

Nearly a quarter (23%) think the Pakistani government provided intelligence to the U.S. that led to the killing of the al Qaeda leader, while an almost equal number (22%) do not believe this. However, a majority (56%) has no view on this issue.

About three-in-ten (29%) think their government authorized the raid that killed bin Laden, while 23% do not believe this. Roughly half (49%) do not know. The view that the Pakistani government authorized the operation is especially common among supporters of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) (42%).

Drone Strikes and the Fight Against Extremists

Awareness of U.S. drone attacks against extremists groups and leaders within Pakistan has increased since last year. Today, 27% say they have heard a lot about these attacks, compared with 14% last year. Meanwhile, the percentage of Pakistanis who have heard a little has risen from 21% to 29%.

Familiarity with the drone strikes is linked to education. Those with some intermediate or more education (85%) and those with at least some primary education (68%) are much more aware of these attacks than are Pakistanis with no formal education (35%). Men (76%) are also much more aware than women (36%).

As in previous years, those who know about the drone strikes tend to view them negatively. Nearly all (97%) say they are a bad thing – and 65% say they are very bad.

When those who are aware of the drone attacks are asked who is conducting them, roughly seven-in-ten (69%) say the U.S. government; 3% say the Pakistani government; and 19% volunteer that both governments are responsible. When asked whether these attacks are being done without the approval of the Pakistani government, more than four-in-ten (45%) say yes while a roughly equal number (41%) say no.

Fully 61% of those who know about the strikes say they are unnecessary and 89% think they kill too many innocent people.

Only 21% of Pakistanis say they support the idea of U.S. and Pakistan working together to conduct drone strikes against extremist leaders.

Other types of U.S. involvement in the fight against extremist groups receive more support. For instance, a slim majority (54%) wants the U.S. to provide financial and humanitarian aid to areas where these groups operate. This is essentially unchanged from last year, when 53% favored U.S. aid, although as recently as 2009, 72% favored U.S. financial and humanitarian assistance.

Nearly half (46%) would like the U.S. to provide intelligence and logistical support to Pakistani troops battling extremist groups. This too is largely unchanged from last year’s 48%, but is down significantly from 2009, when 63% supported this idea.

Support is also waning for the Pakistani state’s own campaign against extremists. Currently, 37% of Pakistanis support using the national army to fight extremist groups in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North-West Frontier Province), while 25% oppose using the military in this way. Last year, more than twice as many endorsed this idea (49%) as opposed it (20%). The current level of support for using the Pakistani army to fight extremists is unchanged from the survey conducted just prior to the U.S. military raid that killed bin Laden.

In general, the U.S. military operation in Abbottabad has had little impact on attitudes toward the U.S. or its policies. On a range of indicators – from opinion of President Obama, to views of the U.S. as a partner, to support for U.S.-led efforts to combat terrorism – Pakistani opinion had already turned more negative prior to the deadly strike against bin Laden. The one exception is Pakistani awareness of U.S. aid, which actually increased in the wake of the May 2 operation.

Pakistanis have grown more skeptical of President Obama over time. Today, nearly seven-in-ten have little or no confidence in him, compared with 51% in 2009. Overall, Pakistani views of the U.S. and President Obama are among the most negative in the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project this year. (For a more detailed analysis of attitudes toward the United States in Muslim nations, see “Arab Spring Fails to Improve U.S. Image,” released May 17, 2011.)

Pakistanis worry about U.S. intentions toward their country: nearly seven-in-ten consider the U.S. to be more of an enemy, than a partner to their country. Meanwhile, a similar number say they are worried that the U.S. could pose a military threat to their country. In contrast, nearly nine-in-ten describe China as a partner to Pakistan.

In terms of world affairs, most Pakistanis continue to see the U.S. acting unilaterally. Only one-in-five says the U.S takes into account the interests of countries like Pakistan when making foreign policy decisions. Among the Pakistani public, roughly six-in-ten oppose U.S.-led efforts to combat terrorism, while nearly seven-in-ten think the U.S. and NATO should remove their troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible.

When it comes to U.S. foreign assistance, more than six-in-ten Pakistanis say the U.S. extends at least some financial aid to their country, although only about a third claim the U.S. provides “a lot” of financial assistance. Interestingly, the number acknowledging U.S. aid to their country is up from last year, and is still higher in the wake of the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden.

Among those who credit the U.S. with extending a helping hand to Pakistan, opinion is divided as to whether the amount of U.S. aid is increasing or decreasing. Those who believe the U.S. provides at least some aid to Pakistan also differ about the nature of the aid: more than a third say it is mainly intended to boost economic development, while about a fifth think it is primarily military-related.

U.S. Image and Confidence in Obama

Favorable opinion of the United States is near its lowest point in almost a decade in Pakistan. Currently, 12% express a favorable opinion of the U.S, down five percentage points from 2010. Polling before and after May 2 confirms that this latest decline in U.S. image actually preceded the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden.

President Obama receives extremely low marks in Pakistan. Only about one-in-ten (8%) express at least some confidence in the American president to do the right thing when it comes to world affairs. More than two-thirds (68%) of Pakistanis say they have little or no confidence in Obama, while roughly a quarter (24%) offer no definite opinion.

Overall, the percentage of Pakistanis saying they lack confidence in the American president has increased steadily since 2009, ticking up 8 percentage points in just the last year. Today, Obama’s ratings are as low as former President George W. Bush’s were in 2008. The recent U.S. strike against bin Laden did not substantially impact already waning confidence in President Obama.

U.S. Seen as Enemy

Many Pakistanis question U.S. intentions toward their country. Roughly seven-in-ten (69%) think America is more of an enemy than a partner to Pakistan – a view that gained traction even prior to the U.S. military operation in Abbottabad. In 2010, fewer (59%) described the U.S. as an enemy.

In contrast, a large majority of Pakistanis (87%) say China is a partner to their country. Virtually no one (1%) identifies it as an enemy. The notion that China is more of a partner than enemy has been the dominant view among the public since 2008.

A solid majority of Pakistanis (69%) are either very or somewhat worried that the U.S. could someday pose a threat to their homeland. Nearly half (47%) say they are very worried, up 10 percentage points from 2010 and five points since the April poll.

Concern about the threat posed by the U.S. is especially evident in Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab (81%). A smaller majority in Sindh (56%) say they are worried that America could pose a military threat some day, while fewer in Khyber Pahktunkhwa (48%) and Baluchistan (42%) express the same level of concern.

American Unilateralism

Just one-in-five Pakistanis believe the U.S. takes into account the interests of other countries when making international policy decisions. This assessment is virtually unchanged from last year, when 19% offered the same opinion.

Many Pakistanis oppose U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, as well as the presence of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Opposition to the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism notched up slightly over the past year – rising from 56% in 2010 to 62% in 2011. Notably, the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden did not substantially influence Pakistanis’ opinion about the U.S. approach to fighting terrorism.

Meanwhile, a clear majority of Pakistanis (69%) say the U.S. and NATO should withdraw their troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible, rather than wait for the situation to first stabilize. Support for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops has been consistently strong since 2007.

Pakistanis residing in the Punjab region voice greater opposition to U.S.-led anti-terrorism efforts (72%) than counterparts in either Sindh (56%), Khyber Pahktunkhwa (47%) or Baluchistan (22%) (74% in Baluchistan offer no opinion). In addition, those who identify with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are more opposed to the U.S. approach to combating terrorism than are supporters of President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) (71% vs. 50%).

Opinion about the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan also varies by party affiliation, with 71% of PML-N backers saying troops should be removed immediately, compared with 54% of PPP supporters.

U.S. Aid to Pakistan

When asked how much financial aid the U.S. gives their country, 38% of Pakistanis say it gives a lot, 21% say it gives a little, and 13% say it gives hardly any financial assistance. Just 5% say America provides no assistance to their country, while about a quarter (24%) are uncertain how much aid Pakistan receives from the U.S.

The percentage of Pakistanis who say the U.S. provides a lot of aid to their country has increased substantially from a 2010 survey conducted prior to widespread flooding in Pakistan and the provision of significant humanitarian aid by the U.S.; just 23% credited America with giving Pakistan a lot of financial assistance in 2010.

Notably, the number of Pakistanis holding this view increased not only before the U.S. military operation in Abbottabad, but rose still further after the raid. This may be due to Pakistani media reporting more intensely on all aspects of U.S.-Pakistani relations after the strike that killed bin Laden.

Awareness of U.S. aid is most widespread in Sindh province, where more than eight-in-ten (84%) say the U.S. provides Pakistan with at least some financial assistance. Smaller majorities in Punjab (72%) and Khyber Pahktunkhwa (57%) also acknowledge that their country receives aid from the U.S., while just 29% in Baluchistan are aware of U.S. assistance.

Among those who credit the U.S. with extending a helping hand to Pakistan, opinion is divided as to whether the amount of U.S. aid is increasing or decreasing. Currently, 29% of Pakistanis believe the level of U.S. assistance to their country is increasing, compared with 38% who say it is decreasing and 22% who think it is staying the same. The number of Pakistanis who say U.S. aid is increasing is actually slightly lower than before the U.S. raid in Abbottabad, when 35% believed assistance to their country was on the rise.

Those who believe the U.S. provides at least some aid to Pakistan differ about the nature of the aid. Almost four-in-ten (37%) say it is mainly intended to boost economic development, up from 27% in 2010; 22% say it is primarily military-related. About a quarter (23%) believe U.S. aid is aimed at supporting both the economy and military, while 18% do not offer an opinion.

Most Pakistanis disapprove of the U.S. military operation that killed Osama bin Laden, and although the al Qaeda leader has not been well-liked in recent years, a majority of Pakistanis describe his death as a bad thing. Only 14% say it is a good thing.

Moreover, many Pakistanis believe the U.S. raid on bin Laden’s compound – which was located about 35 miles from Islamabad – will have a negative impact on the already strained relations between the U.S. and their country.

However, the current survey, taken after the raid, showed no material change in opinion of the U.S., when compared with polling conducted immediately before it. In fact, prior to the raid favorable ratings of the U.S. had already fallen to a level not seen since 2002, following the invasion of neighboring Afghanistan.

Currently, just 12% express a positive view of the U.S. and only 8% have confidence in President Barack Obama to do the right thing in world affairs. Obama’s ratings are as low as former President George W. Bush’s were in 2008. Most Pakistanis see the U.S. as an enemy, consider it a potential military threat, and oppose American-led anti-terrorism efforts. All of these views were comparably negative both before and after the killing of bin Laden.

Pakistanis are uncertain about their own government’s role in the military operation that killed bin Laden. About three-in-ten (29%) believe the Pakistani government authorized the raid and 23% say it did not, but 49% say they do not know. Only 18% think the government knew bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad and 29% do not think that was the case; again, roughly half (53%) offer no opinion.

Support for the Pakistani government’s military campaign against extremist groups has waned in recent years. Just 37% support using the Pakistani army to fight extremists in the country’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region (formerly the North-West Frontier Province). This level is significantly lower than it was two years ago, when, in a survey taken following conflict between government forces and Taliban-affiliated groups in the Swat Valley area, 53% endorsed using the army to battle these organizations.

Similarly, fears that extremists might take over Pakistan have declined since 2009. Currently, 55% are very or somewhat worried about this possibility – still a sizeable number, but substantially lower than the 69% expressing such concern two years ago.

While concerns about an extremist takeover and support for using military force against extremist groups may be slipping, the groups themselves remain widely unpopular. Just 12% of Pakistanis have a positive view of al Qaeda, down from 18% in 2010. Only 12% give the Taliban a favorable rating, and when asked more specifically about the Tehrik-i-Taliban (which is based in Pakistan) and the Afghan Taliban, Pakistanis give both groups similarly low levels of support.

There is somewhat more support for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmir-based group that has carried out numerous attacks against India. Currently, 27% have a positive opinion of the organization.

These are among the key findings from two face-to-face personal interview surveys conducted in Pakistan by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. The first was conducted April 10-26 among 1,970 Pakistanis as part of the 23-nation spring 2011 Pew Global Attitudes poll. The second was a special survey conducted only in Pakistan May 8-15, among 1,251 Pakistanis, following the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. military. This second survey included a new set of questions specifically about bin Laden’s death and repeated nearly all of the questions from the first survey. The samples for both surveys cover approximately 85% of the Pakistani population.¹ Throughout the report, results from the May survey are featured, although comparative data from the April survey are referenced on several questions of particular interest. In general, there are few notable differences between the results of the first and second surveys, suggesting that the death of bin Laden had little impact on Pakistani public opinion about the U.S. or about other issues included on the survey.

Disapproval of U.S. Foreign Policy and Opposition to Drone Strikes

Key features of U.S. foreign policy remain unpopular in Pakistan. Only one-in-five think the U.S. considers Pakistani interests when making foreign policy decisions. Almost seven-in-ten (69%) want U.S. and NATO troops out of neighboring Afghanistan. Roughly six-in-ten (62%) oppose U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.

And beyond the opposition to the raid on bin Laden’s compound, there are other signs that Pakistanis are concerned about issues related to sovereignty and the use of American military force within their country’s borders. Among those who are aware of U.S. drone strikes against extremists in Pakistan, these attacks are widely seen as unnecessary and as too costly in terms of innocent lives. Fears about U.S. military power are widespread – 69% believe the U.S. could be a military threat to Pakistan.

India Seen as Bigger Threat Than Taliban, al Qaeda

Pakistani views of traditional rival India have grown increasingly negative in recent years. Three-in-four express an unfavorable opinion of India, up from 50% five years ago.

When asked which is the biggest threat to their country, India, the Taliban, or al Qaeda, a majority of Pakistanis (57%) say India.

Still, roughly seven-in-ten say it is important to improve relations with India, believe increased trade with their neighbor would be a good thing, and support further talks to reduce tensions between the two countries.

Similarly, Indians express negative opinions of Pakistan; 65% have an unfavorable view of their traditional rival and more name Pakistan as India’s biggest threat (45%) than name Lashkar-e-Taiba (19%) or Naxalites (16%). Yet, like Pakistanis, Indians would like to see improved relations between the two countries and most support increased trade between India and Pakistan.

Grim Ratings for National Conditions and Zardari

Pakistanis continue to be highly dissatisfied with conditions in their country. Roughly nine-in-ten (92%) are dissatisfied with the country’s direction. Almost as many (85%) say the economic situation in Pakistan is bad. And optimism is scarce – 60% think the economy will worsen in the next 12 months; only 13% believe it will improve.

Pakistanis list a myriad of problems afflicting their nation – huge majorities say rising prices, a lack of jobs, crime, terrorism and political corruption are very big problems. Unsurprisingly, given these dismal assessments, ratings for President Asif Ali Zardari are overwhelmingly negative. Only 11% have a favorable view of him, down from 20% last year. His prime minister and fellow Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader, Yousaf Raza Gilani, receives a positive rating from 37% – a significant drop from 59% in 2010.

Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif fares better: 63% express a positive opinion of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader, down from a year ago when 71% held this view. The most popular leader tested is former cricket star Imran Khan. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) have a favorable view of the athlete turned politician, up from 52% in 2010.

On balance, Pakistanis continue to view Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry positively, although his ratings have fallen somewhat since last year (51% favorable in 2011; 61% in 2010).

Even though the Pakistani military has received some criticism since the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, it remains overwhelmingly popular: 79% say it is having a good influence on the country. Ratings for military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani have remained on balance positive – 52% give him a favorable and 21% an unfavorable rating. This represents a slight change from the April poll conducted prior to bin Laden’s death, when 57% rated him favorably and 18% unfavorably.

Also of Note

• In addition to the military, the media and religious leaders are also well-regarded; 76% of Pakistanis say the media are having a good influence on the way things are going in their country and 60% say the same about religious leaders. Few give the police and the national government positive ratings.
• Just 37% of Pakistanis say they followed news about the U.S. military raid that killed bin Laden very or somewhat closely, while 39% followed news about the raid not too closely or not at all closely.
• Most Pakistanis support the U.S. providing financial and humanitarian aid to areas where extremist groups operate, and many want the U.S. to provide intelligence and logistical support for Pakistani troops fighting extremists.
• Violence is the top concern among those who are worried about Islamic extremism in Pakistan; 40% say this, compared with 24% who are most concerned about the impact of extremism on the national economy, 16% who worry that it will lead to loss of freedoms, and 15% who fear extremism will divide the country.
• More than eight-in-ten (85%) Pakistanis say suicide bombing and other violent acts against civilians in defense of Islam are never justified. Far fewer (38%) said this was the case in 2002, when the Pew Research Center first asked this question.

In the aftermath of the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast coast of Japan, the Japanese public is resilient.  Indeed, a majority believe that as a result of the disaster, Japan will become a stronger, rather than weaker nation. And while personal pessimism about the future has crept up slightly, on balance the public’s overall sense of personal well being appears little changed by the calamitous events of 2011.

What is clear, however, is that most Japanese foresee a rocky economic road ahead. A 52% majority expect economic conditions to worsen over the next 12 months. In 2010, as the national economy showed signs of recovering from the global recession, only 33% of the Japanese public thought economic conditions would deteriorate in the coming year.

And while hopeful about the long-term future of the country, few Japanese see the current economy as a solid foundation for rebuilding after the March tragedy. Just 10% describe the economy as good, compared with 88% who say the economic situation in the country is bad. These views are virtually identical to last year.

These are the principal findings from a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, conducted by telephone with 700 adults in Japan between April 8 and April 27, 2011.¹ The poll found that while the immediate brunt of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami was concentrated in only a few coastal areas, 41% of Japanese across the country report being affected by the earthquake and tsunami in some way. Roughly a quarter (26%), for instance, say that as a result of the earthquake and tsunami they had trouble obtaining food or clean drinking water, while 18% experienced electrical blackouts. Overall, 13% of Japanese say they lost time at work, while one-in-ten reports physical damage to their homes or property.

The Japanese public applauds how the country’s Self Defense Force has responded to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but is highly critical of the how the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have handled the multiple disasters. More than nine-in-ten (95%) describe the Self Defense Force’s response positively. By contrast, only about 20% say the national government or Prime Minister Naoto Kan have responded well to the crisis. The harshest criticism is reserved for TEPCO, with just 10% saying the power company has done a good job responding to the earthquake and tsunami. A modest majority (54%) give the media favorable marks.

The poll finds that while the Japanese are broadly unhappy with their own government’s handling of the March 11 catastrophe, there is considerable praise for the United States in assisting Japan with the impact of the earthquake and tsunami.

A majority say the U.S. has done a great deal to help with relief efforts in Japan. Far fewer say the United Nations, European Union or China have done a great deal to assist Japan with the aftermath of the disaster. Thanks in part to American relief efforts, favorable opinion of the U.S. is at its highest point in nearly a decade, climbing to 85% positive this spring. The image of the United Nations has also improved in conjunction with earthquake assistance, and China’s image has seen a modest uptick.

One of the biggest questions raised by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is nuclear safety. About six-in-ten (59%) in Japan are worried that they or someone in their family may have been exposed to radiation from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. About seven-in-ten (69%) say they disapprove of how the national government has handled the situation at the crippled nuclear facility. Not surprisingly, few Japanese want their country to increase its use of nuclear power. However, opinion is about evenly split as to whether Japan should maintain (46%) or reduce (44%) its current level of reliance on nuclear energy.

Resilient Public

The Japanese public is putting on a brave face in the wake of the historic devastation wrought by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Fully 58% of the public believes that Japan will become a stronger nation as a result of the twin disasters, while about a third (32%) think the March calamities will weaken the country. This sense of promise is consistent across age, income and other major demographic groups.

Yet, there is also a clear sense that the road ahead will be rocky. A majority (52%) expect the economic situation in the country to worsen over the next 12 months, compared with 31% who say it will remain the same and 17% who believe it will improve. This is a much more bearish appraisal than in 2010, when far more (52%) thought the economy would remain the same, and considerably fewer (33%) foresaw a worsening economic situation.

Adding to the perceived challenge of rebuilding, nearly nine-in-ten (88%) describe the present economy as bad – identical to the number who felt this way in 2010. Just 10% say the economy is in good shape, virtually unchanged from last year (12%).

Similarly, only a quarter say they are satisfied with the country’s current direction, while more than seven-in-ten (72%) say they are dissatisfied. The sense that the country is headed in the wrong direction has been the majority view for nearly a decade.

Impact of the Disasters

Although communities along Japan’s northeast coast bore the brunt of the devastation on March 11, 41% of Japanese from across the country report being affected by the earthquake and tsunami.² Trouble finding food or clean water and electrical blackouts are the difficulties most frequently attributed to the twin disasters. Roughly a quarter (26%) of Japanese say they or a household member have had trouble finding food or clean drinking water as a result of the March calamity, while 18% report experiencing power outages.

Smaller numbers report losing time at work or suffering property damage. A little more than one-in-ten (13%) claim to have lost time at work due to the earthquake and tsunami, while 10% blame the disaster for damage to their home or property.

Overall, just 4% report having to leave their home to go to a safe location, while barely anyone (1%) says they or a household member lost a job due to the earthquake and tsunami.

Personal Pessimism Rises Slightly

When asked to place themselves on a “ladder of life,” where zero represents the worst possible life and 10 the best possible life, 42% of Japanese rate their current lives at least a seven, compared with 45% who describe their life satisfaction as medium and 10% who say they have a low quality of life. These percentages are virtually unchanged from last year.

However, there is a slight uptick in the number of Japanese who anticipate having a lower quality of life in five years. Roughly three-in-ten (31%) are pessimistic today, compared with about a quarter (24%) a year ago. Meanwhile, 29% today are optimistic that their life satisfaction will improve in five years, compared with over a third (36%) who believe it will remain the same. In 2010, the percentages were essentially the same: 32% anticipated life improving, while 38% anticipated no change.

Official Response to the Disaster

The Japanese public is generally critical of the national government’s response to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. A major exception is the country’s Self Defense Force (SDF), which earns widespread praise for its response to the disasters. More than nine-in-ten (95%) say the SDF has done a good job responding to the crisis, including 62% who say the force has done a very good job. A smaller majority (54%) give Japan’s news organizations, such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines, favorable marks for their handling of the disaster. However, only 10% describe the media’s response as very good.

By contrast, only a minority of Japanese say the national government has responded well to the earthquake and tsunami. Just one-in-five (20%) give the government positive marks. Roughly eight-in-ten (78%) rate the government’s performance as poor, with a third (33%) of Japanese describing the government’s response as very poor.

Even among supporters of the ruling DPJ, only 37% describe the government’s handling of the crisis as good. Among supporters of the opposition LDP, roughly one-in-five (18%) rate the government’s performance positively, while just 15% of those who back other political parties, or no party, applaud how the government has responded to the March 11 disaster.

The public gives Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s handling of the earthquake and tsunami nearly identical marks to those of the government: 18% say he has done a good job responding to the disaster, compared with 79% who rate his efforts as poor. Again, only a minority of DPJ backers (39%) favorably assess Kan’s performance. Among supporters of the LDP, as well as backers of other parties or no party, many fewer (12% and 15%, respectively) say Kan has performed well.

Compared with the government, TEPCO is even more widely criticized for its response to the March 11 disaster, likely reflecting public frustrations with the company’s handling of the crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Only about one-in-ten (11%) think TEPCO has done a good job handling the disaster, while 86% say the utility has done a poor job. Fully half of Japanese describe TEPCO’s response to the earthquake and tsunami as very poor.

International Assistance

Overwhelmingly, the Japanese public believes the United States has provided significant assistance to their country since the earthquake and tsunami. Most (57%) say the U.S. has done a great deal to assist their country, while another 32% say it has done a fair amount. Fewer than one-in-ten think the U.S. has not done very much (7%) or has done nothing at all (1%).

Many also say the European Union (66%), United Nations (49%), and China (50%) have helped Japan in this time of crisis, although few say any one of these has provided a great deal of assistance (17%, 15% and 12%, respectively).

The perception of U.S. generosity has led to a significant improvement in America’s overall image. In 2010, 66% of the Japanese polled said they had a favorable opinion of the U.S.; today, 85% express a favorable view – the highest percentage recorded since the Pew Global Attitudes Project began tracking this question in 2002. Among those who say the U.S. has provided a great deal of assistance, 93% express a positive opinion.

Ratings for the UN also have improved. When the Global Attitudes Project last asked about the UN in 2009, 45% of Japanese viewed the organization positively; now, 61% do so.

Although opinions about China remain largely negative, the percentage with a positive view of Japan’s traditional Asian rival has risen from 26% last year to 34% today. About seven-in-ten (71%) Japanese currently say they have a favorable opinion of the EU, essentially unchanged from last year.

Concern About Nuclear Safety

With efforts to address the earthquake and tsunami damage at the Fukushima Daiichi plant still ongoing, a majority of Japanese (59%) are worried that they or some in their family may have been exposed to radiation from the plant. That includes roughly three-in-ten (31%) who say they are very worried about this possibility.

Concerns about radiation exposure are higher among older Japanese, with 72% of those over 60 years of age saying they are concerned, compared with 58% among 40-59 year olds and 46% among 18-39 year olds.

Worries about radiation exposure are also more pronounced among women and those with less education. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of women express concerns about radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, while only 54% of men say they are anxious about this possibility. Meanwhile, 64% of those with a high school degree or less education worry about being exposed to radiation from the damaged nuclear facility, compared with roughly half (48%) of college-educated Japanese.

Japan’s government has come under considerable criticism for its response to the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant. A large majority of Japanese (69%) disapprove of the way their government has handled the situation. Negative assessments are especially pronounced among supporters of the opposition LDP and those who support neither the LDP nor the ruling DPJ (71% and 77%, respectively). Meanwhile, DPJ backers are evenly split regarding the national government’s response: 47% approve and 47% disapprove.

Beyond immediate recriminations, the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has raised questions about the long-term future of nuclear energy in Japan. The Japanese public is divided on the issue. Nearly half (46%) favor maintaining Japan’s reliance on nuclear power at its current levels, while 44% think the use of nuclear power should be reduced. Only 8% believe the country should increase its use of nuclear power.

Support for reducing the use of nuclear energy is somewhat higher among those who are worried about radiation exposure (46%) than among those who are not worried about this possibility (40%). Consistent with their concerns about radiation exposure, women are considerably more in favor of reducing the use of nuclear power than are men (53% vs. 34%). Those with a university education are also more in favor of reducing Japan’s utilization of nuclear power (52%) than are those with up to a high school degree (40%).

About six-in-ten Pakistanis consider the U.S. an enemy of their country and express concern that the U.S. could become a military threat to Pakistan. Most also oppose U.S.-led efforts to fight terrorism and say U.S. and NATO troops should leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.

When it comes to U.S. policy toward India and Pakistan, nearly half of Pakistanis say the U.S. favors their archrivals, while just 13% say the U.S. is fair and 6% say it favors Pakistan.

Opinions about U.S.-Pakistani relations are mixed, with about as many saying they have improved in recent years as saying they have not improved. Still, a solid majority of Pakistanis believe it is important for relations between the U.S. and their country to improve.

Assessments of how much financial aid the U.S. gives to Pakistan are also mixed; 23% of Pakistanis say the U.S. gives their country a lot of money, 22% say it gives a little, and 26% say the U.S. gives Pakistan hardly any aid (10%) or none at all (16%). Of those who say their country receives at least some assistance from the U.S., about an equal number say U.S. aid is mostly for military purposes as say it is mostly for economic development or for both equally.

Obama receives lower ratings in Pakistan than in any other nation polled in 2010. Fewer than one-in-ten Pakistanis have confidence in the U.S. president to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Overall evaluations of Obama’s international policies are also negative, and majorities disapprove of the way he is handling the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as two important issues in the Middle East – Iran and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

America’s Image Largely Negative

Fewer than one-in-five Pakistanis (17%) have a favorable opinion of the U.S., a rating virtually unchanged from recent years. America’s favorable ratings are somewhat higher in Sindh than in other provinces; 27% in Sindh have a positive view of the U.S., compared with 15% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 13% in Punjab.

The American people also receive low ratings in Pakistan. About six-in-ten (61%) have a negative view of Americans, while just 18% express a positive opinion. Of the 21 publics surveyed outside of the U.S. in 2010, only Turks give Americans more negative ratings than Pakistanis; 72% in Turkey have an unfavorable view and 16% have a favorable view of Americans.

America’s image challenge in Pakistan stems, in part, from negative attitudes toward key elements of American foreign policy. For example, nearly two-thirds (65%) of Pakistanis think U.S. and NATO troops should be removed from Afghanistan as soon as possible and 56% oppose U.S.-led efforts to fight terrorism. Majorities also say the U.S. does not consider the interests of countries like Pakistan (56%) and express concern that the U.S. could become a military threat to their country (65%).

Relations With the U.S.

Despite giving America consistently low ratings, Pakistanis offer more positive assessments of their country’s relations with the U.S. than they did a year ago. About as many now say U.S.-Pakistan relations have improved in recent years (36%) as say they have not improved (39%); a quarter do not have an opinion. In 2009, far fewer said relations between their country and the U.S. had recently improved (27%) than said they had not (43%).

In contrast, Indians are now less likely than they were a year ago to say that relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have improved recently. Four-in-ten in that country say U.S.-Pakistani relations have gotten better and slightly more (44%) say they have not. In 2009, nearly half of Indians (48%) believed relations between the U.S. and Pakistan had improved, while 38% said they had not.

While Pakistanis offer mixed views about whether relations between their country and the U.S. have improved in recent years, a clear majority wants relations to improve. More than six-in-ten (64%) say that improving relations with the U.S. is important, up from 53% who expressed this opinion a year ago.

Those in Sindh and Punjab are especially likely to say that improving relations with the U.S. is important (71% and 66%, respectively), but a majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (55%) also shares that view.

Many Pakistanis Say U.S. Sides With India

Nearly half of Pakistanis (47%) say U.S. policies toward India and Pakistan tend to favor India, down from 54% who said the same in 2009. Just 6% say American policies favor Pakistan, while 13% say the U.S. is fair and about a third (34%) do not offer an opinion.

For their part, nearly four-in-ten Indians (38%) believe U.S. policy in South Asia favors their country and a third say the U.S. is fair. Few Indians (14%) say the U.S. favors Pakistan.

Most See U.S. as Enemy, China as Partner

About six-in-ten Pakistanis (59%) see the U.S. as an enemy of their country, down slightly from 64% in 2009. Only 11% now consider the U.S. a partner and 16% say it is neither a partner nor an enemy. By comparison, more than eight-in-ten Pakistanis consider China a partner (84%) and say they have a favorable opinion of the Asian superpower (85%).

Those who live in Punjab are far more likely than those in other regions to consider the U.S. an enemy of Pakistan; about seven-in-ten (69%) in that province express this opinion, compared with 52% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 40% in Sindh.

The view that the U.S. is an enemy of Pakistan is also much more prevalent among Pakistanis who are affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) than among those in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). About seven-in-ten (72%) in the PML-N, Pakistan’s opposition party, consider the U.S. an enemy; just 9% say it is a partner and 12% say it is neither. Fewer than half (46%) in the PPP see the U.S. as an enemy, while 15% consider it a partner and 21% say it is neither.

U.S. Aid to Pakistan

When asked how much financial aid the U.S. gives to their country, 23% of Pakistanis say it gives a lot, 22% say it gives a little, and 10% say the U.S. gives Pakistan hardly any financial assistance. Another 16% of Pakistanis say the U.S. does not give their country any aid, and nearly three-in-ten (29%) say they do not know how much financial assistance their country receives from the American government.

Awareness of U.S. aid to Pakistan is more widespread in Sindh than in other provinces. More than six-in-ten in Sindh say the U.S. gives their country at least some aid, including 28% who say the U.S. gives a lot, 23% who say it gives a little, and 11% who say American aid is minimal. By comparison, 56% in Punjab and 48% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa say Pakistan receives financial assistance from the U.S.

Among Pakistanis who say the U.S. gives Pakistan at least some aid, the same number believes American financial assistance is increasing as believe it is decreasing (33% each); about one-in-five (18%) say U.S. aid to Pakistan is staying the same.

Those who say Pakistan receives financial assistance from the U.S. also offer mixed opinions about how U.S. aid is allocated. About a quarter (26%) say American aid to their country is mostly military, and about the same number say it is mostly to help Pakistan develop economically (27%) or both equally (28%).

Few Have Confidence in Obama

Barack Obama receives overwhelmingly low marks in Pakistan. Just 8% express at least some confidence in the American president to do the right thing regarding world affairs, lower than in any of the other 21 countries surveyed in 2010. Six-in-ten Pakistanis say they have little or no confidence in Obama, and about a third (32%) do not offer an opinion. Moreover, only 13% believe Obama has a better understanding of Pakistan than most Western leaders; more than three times as many (42%) say he does not, and 45% do not know.

In 2009, about one-in-eight (13%) Pakistanis said they had confidence in Obama when it came to international affairs, while about half (51%) said they did not have confidence in him; 36% did not offer an opinion. About one-in-five (18%) said Obama had a better understanding of Pakistan than most Western leaders a year ago.

Pakistan is the only predominantly Muslim country surveyed where more express confidence in Osama bin Laden than in the American president. About one-in-five (18%) Pakistanis have at least some confidence in the al Qaeda leader to do the right thing in world affairs, while 45% lack confidence in him.

Views of Obama’s Policies

Evaluations of Obama’s foreign policies and assessments of his handling of specific issues are, on balance, negative, but many Pakistanis, particularly women and the less educated, do not offer an opinion on these matters. Overall, 48% disapprove of Obama’s policies, while only 9% approve and 42% say they do not know.

Majorities of Pakistanis disapprove of the way the American president is handling Afghanistan (55%), Iraq (53%), Iran (52%), and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (51%). The percentages of Pakistanis who approve of Obama’s handling of each of these issues are all in the single digits, while about four-in-ten do not offer assessments.

Pakistani views about Obama’s handling of the global economic crisis and global climate change are somewhat less negative than opinions about his handling of the two war zones and the Middle East. Still, only about one-in-six approve of the way the American president is dealing with these two issues (16% and 17%, respectively), and many do not offer an opinion.

There continues to be support for using the Pakistani army to fight extremists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions of the country, and about half of Pakistanis support the idea of the U.S. providing intelligence and logistical support to Pakistani troops. However, enthusiasm for American involvement in the battle against extremists has declined over the last year, and there is little support for U.S. drone strikes against leaders of militant groups. Moreover, the great majority of Pakistanis would like to see U.S. and NATO forces out of neighboring Afghanistan.

Limited Support for Militant Groups

Roughly half of Pakistanis (53%) voice an unfavorable view of al Qaeda, down somewhat from 61% last year. However, opposition to al Qaeda is still much more common today than two years ago, when only 34% expressed an unfavorable opinion. Relatively few Pakistanis (18%) express a favorable view of the group, while 28% offer no opinion.

Views of the Taliban follow a similar pattern – 65% of Pakistanis currently give it a negative rating, down slightly from 2009 (70%), but up considerably from 2008, when only one-in-three Pakistanis offered a negative opinion. Just 15% now offer a favorable rating of the Taliban, although that number has risen from 10% a year ago.

When asked about specific Taliban-affiliated groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, on balance Pakistanis offer negative ratings, although many are unfamiliar with these groups. About half (51%) have an unfavorable opinion of the Tehrik-i-Taliban (an umbrella organization of Taliban affiliated groups in Pakistan, also known as the TTP), while 18% hold a positive view and 31% are unable to rate the organization. Similarly, 49% express a negative view of the Afghan Taliban, 16% a positive view, and 34% offer no opinion.

Opinions about Lashkar-e-Taiba (a Pakistani extremist organization that is active in Kashmir and has often attacked Indian targets) are more mixed. Just over a third (35%) express a negative view of the militant group, while 25% have a favorable opinion and four-in-ten offer no assessment.

Consistently, militant groups receive more positive ratings in Punjab than in other regions. While 27% in Punjab offer a favorable opinion of al Qaeda and 22% express a favorable view of the Taliban, support for these groups is only in the single digits in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Baluchistan. Lashkar-e-Taiba also gets its most positive ratings in Punjab, where equal numbers express a positive (34%) and negative (34%) view of the organization.

Militant organizations also receive somewhat more positive assessments from lower-income respondents.² For instance, 26% of those with low household incomes have a favorable view of the Taliban, compared with 13% of middle income respondents and 10% of those with higher incomes. Views of al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, TTP, and the Afghan Taliban are also generally more positive among the lower-income group.

Few Endorse Suicide Bombing

Support for suicide attacks has declined steeply in Pakistan in recent years and it remains low on this year’s poll. As recently as 2004, roughly four-in-ten (41%) Pakistani Muslims said suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are often or sometimes justified to defend Islam. However, support for these kinds of attacks plunged to 9% by 2007 and has stayed in the single digits since then. Currently, 8% of Pakistani Muslims consider suicide bombing justifiable

Rejection of suicide terrorism is more common among Pakistanis than among most of the other Muslim publics included in the spring 2010 Pew Global Attitudes survey. Eight-in-ten Pakistani Muslims say these attacks are never justified. Large majorities of Muslims in Turkey (77%) and Indonesia (69%) also hold this view, as well a slim majority in Jordan (54%). However, less than half of Egyptian (46%), Nigerian (44%) and Lebanese (40%) Muslims believe this kind of violence is never justified.

Views toward Osama bin Laden, whom some experts believe is now hiding in Pakistan’s tribal areas, have followed a somewhat similar trajectory, with steep declines since the middle of the last decade. In 2005, about half (52%) of Pakistani Muslims expressed confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs; today only 18% share this view.

Concerns About Extremism Ebb

Most Pakistanis remain worried about the rise of Islamic extremism in their country, although these concerns have waned somewhat since last year. Nearly two-thirds (65%) say they are very or somewhat concerned about extremism in Pakistan, compared with 79% in 2009. When asked about the rise of extremism around the world, Pakistanis are also less concerned than they were last year (63% now vs. 76% in 2009).

Fears that extremists may take control of Pakistan are also less widespread in this year’s survey. A year ago, 69% were very or somewhat worried that extremist groups could take over the country; roughly half (51%) currently feel this way. Concerns about an extremist takeover are most common among high-income (63%) and well-educated (60%) respondents, as well as those from the Sindh region (61%).³

Similarly, Pakistanis see the Taliban and al Qaeda as less threatening than in last year’s survey. Currently, 54% consider the Taliban a very or somewhat serious threat to Pakistan, down from 73% in 2009. Just 38% say al Qaeda is a serious threat, compared with 61% last year.

Pakistanis in the high income group are especially likely to see a threat from both the Taliban (66%) and al Qaeda (50%). The well-educated are also more concerned about these groups – 61% see a threat from the Taliban and 51% from al Qaeda. Residents of Sindh (68%) are more likely than others to consider the Taliban a serious threat, while those in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (50%) are the most concerned about al Qaeda.

Little Enthusiasm for Drone Strikes

Despite their opposition to extremist groups, Pakistanis who have heard about drone attacks targeting leaders of extremist organizations tend to oppose these attacks. Just over one-in-three Pakistanis (35%) have heard about the drone strikes. Nearly all (93%) of those who are familiar with the strikes say they are a bad thing.

Most Pakistanis (56%) who have heard about the drone attacks say they are not necessary to defend Pakistan from extremist groups, while about one-in-three (32%) believe they are necessary. Nine-in-ten think these attacks kill too many innocent people.

Roughly half (49%) of Pakistanis who have heard about the strikes think they are being conducted without their government’s approval, while 33% disagree with this opinion. About two-thirds (66%) of those familiar with the drone attacks believe the U.S. government is conducting them, while 6% say it is the Pakistani government, and 15% volunteer that it is both governments.

Even though the drone attacks are unpopular, many Pakistanis believe the death of TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a drone missile attack in August 2009, was a good thing. Among those who have heard about Mehsud’s death, 47% say it was a good thing, 31% say it was bad, and 22% do not give an opinion.⁴

Fewer Want U.S. Involvement

Support for U.S. involvement in the battle against extremist groups in Pakistan has declined since last year. Currently, 53% of Pakistanis support the U.S. providing financial and humanitarian aid to areas where extremist groups operate, down from 72% in 2009.

Today, 48% want the U.S. to provide intelligence and logistical support to Pakistani troops fighting extremist groups, compared with 63% last year.

Just 23% of Pakistanis support the idea of the U.S. conducting drone strikes in conjunction with the Pakistani government against extremist leaders. About one-in-three (32%) oppose this idea, while nearly half (45%) do not have an opinion.

Afghanistan

U.S. and NATO military efforts in neighboring Afghanistan are broadly unpopular among Pakistanis – 65% say the U.S. and NATO should withdraw their troops as soon as possible, down slightly from 72% in 2009. Only 7% say coalition forces should remain in Afghanistan until the situation there is stabilized, while 28% do not offer an opinion.

Many Pakistanis do not see the war in Afghanistan having an impact on their country. One-in-four say that it would be bad for Pakistan if the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, 18% say it would be a good thing, and 27% believe it would not matter. Three-in-ten have no view on this issue.

The Pakistani Role in Fighting Extremists

About half (49%) of Pakistanis support the idea of using their country’s army to fight extremist groups in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while 20% oppose this and 30% offer no opinion. There has been minimal change on this question since last year, although the percentage of Pakistanis who express no opinion has risen eight points.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa itself, public opinion leans in favor of using the army to fight extremists, although many residents of the region do not give an opinion – 43% support, 17% oppose, and 40% do not know. Support for using the military is stronger among high-income (60%) and middle-income (58%) Pakistanis than among those with lower household incomes (48%).

Few Pakistanis are familiar with the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a leading figure in the Afghan Taliban, by Pakistani authorities in February – only 12% are aware of his arrest. Half of those who have heard about this say it was a good thing, 33% consider it a bad thing, and 18% voice no opinion.

Pakistanis remain in a grim mood about the state of their country. Overwhelming majorities are dissatisfied with national conditions, unhappy with the nation’s economy, and concerned about political corruption and crime. Only one-in-five express a positive view of President Asif Ali Zardari, down from 64% just two years ago.

As Pakistani forces continue to battle extremist groups within the country, nearly all Pakistanis describe terrorism as a very big problem. However, they have grown markedly less concerned that extremists might take control of the country. Last year, at a time when the Pakistani military was taking action against Taliban forces in the Swat Valley within 100 miles of the nation’s capital, 69% were very or somewhat worried about extremist groups taking control of Pakistan. Today, just 51% express concern about an extremist takeover.

More specifically, Pakistanis also feel less threatened by the Taliban and much less by al Qaeda. Last year, 73% rated the Taliban a serious threat, compared with 54% now. Roughly six-in-ten (61%) considered al Qaeda a serious threat last year; now, just 38% feel this way.

Nonetheless, both the Taliban and al Qaeda remain unpopular among Pakistanis – 65% give the Taliban an unfavorable rating and 53% feel this way about al Qaeda. Negative views toward these groups have become a little less prevalent over the past year, while positive views have crept up slightly. Still, opinions are much more negative today than was the case two years ago, when roughly one-third expressed an unfavorable view of both groups, one-quarter gave them a positive rating, and four-in-ten offered no opinion.

Pakistanis express more mixed views about another militant organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani group active in Kashmir that has often attacked Indian targets (it is widely blamed for the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks). Just 35% have a negative view of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a much lower percentage than for the other extremist organizations tested. One-in-four Pakistanis express a positive assessment, while 40% offer no opinion. Essentially, views toward Lashkar-e-Taiba resemble Pakistani views about the Taliban and al Qaeda prior to 2009, when the balance of public opinion shifted from indifference to opposition to those groups.

Less Support for U.S. Involvement

America’s overall image remains negative in Pakistan. Along with Turks and Egyptians, Pakistanis give the U.S. its lowest ratings among the 22 nations included in the spring 2010 Pew Global Attitudes survey – in all three countries, only 17% have a favorable view of the U.S. Roughly six-in-ten (59%) Pakistanis describe the U.S. as an enemy, while just 11% say it is a partner. And President Barack Obama is unpopular – only 8% of Pakistanis express confidence that he will do the right thing in world affairs, his lowest rating among the 22 nations.

Moreover, support for U.S. involvement in the fight against extremists has waned over the last year. Fewer Pakistanis now want the U.S. to provide financial and humanitarian aid to areas where extremist groups operate, or for the U.S. to provide intelligence and logistical support to Pakistani troops fighting extremists, although about half of those surveyed still favor these efforts. There is also little support for U.S. drone strikes against extremist leaders – those who are aware of these attacks generally say they are not necessary, and overwhelmingly they believe the strikes kill too many civilians.

The U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan is widely opposed by Pakistanis. Nearly two-thirds (65%) want U.S. and NATO troops removed as soon as possible. And relatively few Pakistanis believe the situation in Afghanistan could have a serious impact on their country: 25% think it would be bad for Pakistan if the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan and 18% say it would be good; 27% think it would not matter and 30% have no opinion.

Nonetheless, despite the prevalence of negative opinions about the U.S., most Pakistanis want better relations between the two countries. Nearly two-in-three (64%) say it is important for relations with the U.S. to improve, up from 53% last year.

These are the latest findings from a spring 2010 survey of Pakistan by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 2,000 adults in Pakistan April 13 to 28, 2010. The sample, which is disproportionately urban, includes Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North-West Frontier Province, or NWFP). However, portions of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not included because of instability. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), as well as Gilgit-Baltistan (formerly the Federally Administered Northern Areas, or FANA) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, were not surveyed. The area covered by the sample represents approximately 84% of the adult population.¹ (Pakistan was surveyed as part of the

Spring 2010 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, which included 22 nations. For more findings from this survey, see “Obama More Popular Abroad Than at Home, Global Image of U.S. Continues to Benefit,” released June 17, 2010).

India Seen as a Threat

While Pakistanis express serious concerns about the U.S., they also have deep worries about their neighbor and longtime rival India. Indeed, they are more worried about the external threat from India than extremist groups within Pakistan. When asked which is the greatest threat to their country – India, the Taliban or al Qaeda – slightly more than half of Pakistanis (53%) choose India, compared with 23% for the Taliban and just 3% for al Qaeda.

However, despite the deep-seated tensions between these two countries, most Pakistanis want better relations with India. Roughly seven-in-ten (72%) say it is important for relations with India to improve and about three-quarters support increased trade with India and further talks between the two rivals.

A Bleak View of National Conditions

Few Pakistanis are happy with the state of their nation – only 14% are satisfied with national conditions, while 84% say they are dissatisfied.

Views of the economy are almost as grim. More than three-in-four (78%) say the country’s economy is in bad shape. Moreover, there is growing pessimism about Pakistan’s economic future. Half of the public expects the country’s economic situation to worsen over the next 12 months, up from 35% in the 2009 survey.

Almost all Pakistanis say the lack of jobs is a major problem facing their nation, although economic issues are not the only challenges widely perceived. Vast majorities characterize terrorism, crime, illegal drugs, political corruption, the situation in Kashmir, and environmental issues as very big problems.

The gloomy national mood has clearly had an impact on evaluations of President Zardari – just 20% have a favorable view of him, compared with 64% in 2008 and 32% in 2009. Even among his own political party – the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – fewer than four-in-ten (38%) express a positive opinion of Zardari. Other leaders receive higher marks, however, including Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who is also affiliated with PPP. Most respondents have positive views of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and cricket-star-turned-politician Imran Khan. Among the political figures tested, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif receives the highest ratings – 71% have a positive opinion of the leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).

General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, head of the Pakistani Army, is also generally well-regarded, with 61% voicing a favorable view of him. More broadly, the Pakistani military is overwhelmingly popular: 84% of Pakistanis say the military is having a good impact on their country. And, on balance, Pakistanis tend to support the army’s ongoing efforts to fight extremist groups in the FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 49% approve of these efforts, while just 20% oppose and 30% have no opinion.

Widespread Support for Harsh Laws

More than four-in-ten Pakistanis see a struggle taking place between Islamic fundamentalists and groups that want to modernize the country; and the vast majority of those who do see a struggle identify with the modernizers.

Nonetheless, many Pakistanis endorse extreme views about law, religion and society. More than eight-in-ten support segregating men and women in the workplace, stoning adulterers, and whipping and cutting off the hands of thieves. Roughly three-in-four endorse the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

Thus, even though Pakistanis largely reject extremist organizations, they embrace some of the severe laws advocated by such groups. Still, Pakistanis differ sharply with the Taliban and al Qaeda when it comes to a tactic associated with both groups: suicide bombing. Fully 80% of Pakistani Muslims say suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians can never be justified to defend Islam, the highest percentage among the Muslim publics surveyed. As recently as six years ago, only 35% held this view.

Also of Note

• There is no consensus among Pakistanis about the size of American assistance to their country – 23% believe the U.S. provides a lot of financial aid, 22% say it provides a little aid, 10% say hardly any, and 16% believe the U.S. gives Pakistan no aid.
• Attitudes toward China remain positive – 84% consider China a partner to Pakistan.
• Over the last five years, Pakistani Muslims have become less likely to believe Islam plays a major role in the country’s politics. Currently, 46% say it has a large role, compared with 63% in 2005.
• The dispute over Kashmir remains a major issue. Roughly eight-in-ten say it is very important that Pakistan and India resolve this issue, and 71% rate it a very big problem.
• Pakistan’s often freewheeling media gets high marks from respondents – 76% say it is having a good influence on the country.