We recently included several winning Top Question Tuesday selections on an interactive poll. Stay tuned to this blog as we’ll be releasing the results over the next several weeks! And don’t forget to submit your own nominations for Top Question Tuesday using the box on the right of this blog.

One question asked respondents if they couldn’t live in the US or US territories anymore, which area of the world would they choose for their new home. Overall, 24% of those surveyed selected Australia/New Zealand, 19% selected Canada, 17% said Western Europe, 16% were not sure, and 9% selected the Caribbean. All other options (Central America, Mexico, South America, North Africa, Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Antarctica) received less than 3% of the total.

Age, race, gender, education and whether one lived in a large city, small city, suburb or rural area had minimal impact on the region or country selected. Progressives and liberals were more likely than average to favor Canada, with 36% of progressives and 33% of liberals selecting this country. Conservatives and very conservatives were more likely than average to favor Australia/New Zealand, with 38% of conservatives and 40% of very conservatives selecting this region. This pattern was also seen with Democrats and Republicans, with 30% of Democrats selecting Canada and 36% of Republicans selecting Australia/New Zealand.

If you could no longer live in the US, where would you move and why?

Katy global issues, international education, elections, global issues, lifestyles, middle east, race, Top Question Tuesday

Welcome to this week’s edition of Top Question Tuesday. Last week’s winning question asked if people would re-elect their Senator if he or she votes for a healthcare bill with a public option. We’ll put this question on an upcoming interactive survey and blog about the results soon.

This week’s user-submitted survey questions are below. The questions are shortened to save space on our blog post, but these are the basic ideas. Take a look through and then vote for the question you’d most like to see on the next Zogby Interactive survey. As a reminder, if you’d like to submit a question to be considered for a Top Question Tuesday Zogby survey, use the “Top Question Tuesday” box on the right of the page. And if you’d like to join Zogby’s interactive panel to answer questions similar to these, click here.

1. If you couldn’t live in the US or US territories anymore, from the following list, which area of the world would you choose for your new home?

Central America, Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Eastern Europe , Western Europe, Asia, The Middle East, Antarctica, or somewhere else

2. Thinking of the various laws and federal agencies in place to protect America’s food source, including the FDA and the USDA, do you agree or disagree that enough is being done to ensure that America’s food sources are safe from food borne illnesses such as e.coli?  

3. If you receive poor service at a place you would normally leave a tip, do you generally leave less tip?

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Leann Uncategorized health, middle east, Top Question Tuesday, zogby

For the generation born from 1945-1964, the Vietnam War was the tumultuous event which divided this group more than any other.  And while many were appalled before, and especially after the results of Woodstock, the three-day music festival was the one event during this era which best captured the zeitgeist of this time- rebellion- and whether boomers agreed with the war or not, many could relate to that on some level.  However, the aftermath of the festival still revealed a stark divide amongst this age cohort.

Naturally I ponder similar questions for my generation born from 1979-1990; what is our definitive era, what is the big day that had a profound impact, and did it divide us or unite us?
For First Globals™, our era is no doubt defined by the telecommunications revolution that started in the 1980s and advanced into the 1990s so that a near majority of homes had cell phones, internet, or both. 

But unlike the Vietnam War for our parents generation, the T.C. revolution brought us closer to each other both within our regions and to some degree around our country (think chat rooms for special interests, instant messaging- thus the greater possibility to network outside of our high schools and cities).  And it was this era of networking and keeping in touch which many of us spent much of our teenage years engaging in, that prepared us for the day that shook us just like our parents had been shaken by various shocking events of the 1960s and early 1970s- that day for us was 9/11.

In fact 9/11 was an existential moment for many of us.  Some of us started attending church services and looking inward, while many did the exact opposite and found meaning by looking outward- hence the explosion in college students majoring in International Studies, East Asian Studies, Middle Eastern studies, and traveling abroad.

In short, 9/11 was the event in our short-lived history that ultimately defined us as a Global Generation because it allowed us to apply our networking and ultra-inclusive communicative skills learned through texting, instant messaging, and chat rooms, and apply them on an internationally practical level.  This is why we see countless members of the First Global™ generation who have made friends abroad and maintained through various social networking sites. 

Furthermore, 9/11 was the event that ultimately put the final nail in our parochial coffin and helped usher many of us to be more active in something more powerful than we had previously ever known- the global exchange of ideas.

While many Baby Boomers get much slack for continuing their indulgent behavior into their mature adult years; what are the behavioral tendencies of the Global Generation and are they likely to tarnish their image down the line, or have they already?

Jeremy first globals communication, evolution, first globals, history, international, internet, middle east, music, travel, war, work

This Thursday, President Obama will be in Cairo, Egypt to deliver what is being billed as his first  address to the Muslim world. Noting the challenges posed by  Obama’s speech and particularly the challenges posed by  the different audiences the speech will address, James Taub writes in the New York Times that:

You can demonstrate deep respect for both the state and its people in a democracy like the Czech Republic — but not in a place like Egypt, where the people feel crushed by the state. There you must make a choice. And if the state is a valued ally, it will be a very difficult choice. The dilemma is particularly acute for Mr. Obama, who is seen throughout the world as the incarnation of American democracy, and who well understands America’s power to inspire both hope and resentment. Does he want to be seen as the architect of a policy that gives a dictator free rein in exchange for strategic cooperation?

And our own James Zogby recently discussed the results of a  Zogby poll of attitudes in six Middle Eastern countries and what this might mean for Obama’s Cairo speech at the Huffington Post.  He notes that while Obama is viewed favorably in the UAE, Morocco, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, “deep skepticism” remains in Egypt and Jordan.  In fact, Zogby data shows that three fourths of Egyptians give President Obama a poor job rating for his first three months in office.  Summing up the challenges posed by delivering a speech in a relatively unfriendly environment, Dr. Zogby concludes that “his (Obama’s) speech must be more than banal clichés (”we are not at war with Muslims”) or a repetition of hollow visions. It must be bigger, more consequential and more substantial.”

What do you believe Obama will say in his upcoming Cairo speech? How important is this speech for America’s relationship to the rest of the world, and particularly the Arab and Muslim worlds?

Katy global issues, international, politics environment, international, middle east, Obama, politics, war, zogby

We at Zogby have been very excited by our first couple of months on Twitter! If you haven’t checked us out yet, here is a link to our Twitter page.

We’ve been  tweeting about our blog posts, our surveys, our mentions in the media, and other Zogby news of note. Recently, we’ve tweeted about our surveys of the Middle East, our survey about Israel and Palestine, our survey about marijuana legalization,  and John Zogby and former NBA star Manute Bol’s  upcoming fundraiser to raise money for a school in Sudan. Stop by and take a look!

Katy Uncategorized John Zogby, media, middle east, Sudan, twitter, zogby

Fresh on heels of President Obama’s first official meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Iranian government recently announced that it test-fired a missile with a 1,200 mile range. According to the New  York Times, this missile is “within striking distance of Israel and of American bases in the Persian Gulf. Though the Iranian leader did not allude to any specific  target beyond Iran’s borders in the news agency account.”

We’ve also been asking about Iran in our surveys, most recently in our Top Question Tuesday survey consisting of user-submitted questions.  Our question asked, “Some people believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have said that an Iranian nuclear capability is unacceptable. Would you support or oppose a US attack on Iran to stop an Iranian nuclear weapon program after diplomacy had run its course, even if it meant a wider war in the Middle East?”.

Overall, 57% of those surveyed either strongly supported or somewhat supported a US attack, while 36% either somewhat opposed or strongly opposed an attack and 7% were not sure. 87% of Republicans strongly or somewhat supported an attack , compared to 47% of  Democrats . Likewise, 87% of conservatives  strongly or somewhat supported an attack, compared to 44% of moderates and 25% of liberals. Younger people were also less likely to strongly or somewhat support an attack than older people  - 47% of those 18-29 felt this way, compared to 59%  of those 30-49, 59% of those 50-64, and 62% of those over 65.

What (if anything) do you think is most likely to happen between the US and Iran? And would you support or oppose a US attack on Iran to stop development of Iran’s nuclear weapons, if diplomacy was no longer an option?

Katy global issues, international, politics, war international, middle east, Obama, politics, Top Question Tuesday, war

The first official meeting this week between  President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed interest and debate over which policies the United States should pursue in the Middle East. Reporting on the visit , the New York Times mentions no less than five issues  the two leaders discussed and notes that the meeting “went on far longer than the hour initially planned.. so long, in fact, that the president rearranged his schedule for the rest of the day.”

As the official meeting was occurring, a second meeting took place across town when our own John Zogby, along with his brother and president of the Arab American Institute James Zogby, discussed the results about one of our recent interactive polls examining American attitudes towards the Middle East at a forum hosted by the New America Foundation .  Our poll found stark partisan divides between the attitudes of Democrats and Republicans on several key issues, including whether the US should “get tough with Israel” to stop the expansion of settlements (71% of Obama voters agree, compared to 26% of McCain voters)  and favorability towards Israeli PM Netanyahu (29% of Obama voters, view him “totally favorably” compared to 82% of McCain voters).  Both the Boston Globe and Robert Dreyfuss’s blog at The Nation have additional commentary on the discussion and our statistics. You can view the video of the discussion on Youtube , and on the New America Foundation’s website, you can  listen to the audio and view pictures from the discussion as well.

John Zogby wrote on the topic in his weekly column at Forbes.com, saying that: “How will this emerging political opinion affect the Obama administration’s policies regarding Israel? Obama will emphasize dialogue and conciliation regarding this matter, just as he does with most every issue he touches. The wind of public sentiment is at his back for just such an approach. The question will be how forcefully he tries to influence the Israelis to accept a two-state solution and a freeze on West Bank settlements.”

What do you think the future holds for America’s role in the Middle East?  How will the partisan divides revealed in our poll affect our policies in this area?

Katy Uncategorized future, John Zogby, middle east, Obama, politics, polls, video, war, zogby

Zogby International and the Doha Debates recently conducted an interactive poll of American adults examining their views on the Middle East, Israel, and Palestine.  The press release describing the findings of this survey is below, and you can read Dr. James Zogby’s further analysis of our findings here.

How do our findings compare with your own opinions? How favorable are your views towards Israel and towards the Palestinians? Do you believe the US government should change our policies in the Middle East – and if so, how?

Americans are showing significant disenchantment with their government’s policy towards Israel – and nearly half of them want a more balanced approach to the Middle East conflict.  The trends emerged in a wide-ranging opinion poll – commissioned by the Doha Debates, a free speech forum based in Qatar – which revealed that large numbers of US voters are at odds with their country’s uncritical support for Israel.
The results are most apparent among Democratic voters, with nearly 70 percent of them favoring a tougher US line on Israeli settlements.

The findings, though, offer little encouragement to the Palestinians. Overall, 71 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Israel, compared to only 25 percent who approve of the Palestinians. Nearly 50 percent regard aid to both sides as excessive – and the same percentage would like the administration to steer a “middle course” between them.

Despite heavy Palestinian casualties during the recent conflict in Gaza, 36 percent are now more supportive of Israel, compared to 29 percent who have a less favorable view of the country.

The survey, conducted by the American market research company Zogby International, polled the views of 4,340 American adults between April 1 and April 4.   It followed last month’s special session of the Doha Debates at Washington’s Georgetown University where 63 percent of the mainly-student audience voted that the administration should take a tougher line on Israel.  By contrast, the opinion poll showed Americans nationwide evenly divided on the issue.

Katy global issues, international, politics international, middle east, politics, war, zogby

Much has been said about how Barack Obama may be able to change the world’s image of the U.S., especially in places where we have not been seen as a friendly nation.

John Zogby’s current column on Forbes.com addresses that issue, and he sees reasons for optimism, especially among young adults. Some of the cause is Obama, but more important is the world view of young adults (First Globals™).

The two regions discussed are Latin America, where Zogby International conducted a poll this month of 18-29-year-olds, and the Middle East, where we have a long history of polling. The Latin America survey of First Globals™ also included the U.S., and found strong sentiment for reconciliation in the Western Hemisphere.

Here is some of what Zogby wrote: “One could dismiss all of these opinions as the whims of youth that are very likely to change. However, these First Globals™ are a new breed raised with the Internet and nearly unlimited access to the world. Their outlook is inherently outward, and the forces that brought them there will only grow stronger. Reconciliation with our southern neighbors is in their interest, and that is unlikely to change.”

As for the Middle East, Zogby encourages greater opportunities for First Globals™ in both the U.S. and the Middle East to travel abroad and learn first-hand about each others’ nations and cultures. “Participants asked me what we can do to improve relations with the Middle East. My response was that we should push for more visas for U.S. First Globals™ to visit the Middle East, and for young adults there to come to the U.S. We must nurture the interest they have in each other and all global citizens. Previous generations have not done enough to reconcile national differences and conflicts. Let’s help a new generation achieve more.”

What do you think about whether First Globals™ and whether they will lead the way to a more peaceful world?

Paul first globals, global issues culture, first globals, Generations, history, international, internet, John Zogby, middle east, Obama, peace, travel, war, zogby

This  previous summer, we at Zogby asked survey respondents whether they agreed or disagreed that the United States is currently acting as a fair and honest broker in the Middle East conflict. Overall, 46.1% of those surveyed disagreed that the US is currently acting as a fair and honest  broker in the  Middle East. First Globals were the most likely of any generation to disagree, with  59.7% disagreeing.  Those over 65 were the least likely to disagree (only 32.2% disagreed), and other generations fell in between First Globals and those over 65.

Our questions did not refer to a specific Middle East conflict, so respondents could have been thinking about Israel/Palestine, Iraq, or other conflicts involving the Middle East.  However, a recent article in the International Herald Tribune (the international version of the New York Times) claims that young people, including  young Americans, are much more likely to view themselves as pro-Palestinian than are older generations, a finding that supports our data if we assume our survey-takers had the Israel-Palestine conflict in mind while answering our question.

Compare this with recently released Gallup data, which indicates that when asked whether they sympathized more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians,  almost 60% of Americans sympathize more with the Israelis. This percentage has stayed relatively stable in the past three years that Gallup has asked this question.  Gallup does not post the results to this question by age, so we don’t know if young people answered this question any differently than older people  as they did with our question this past summer.

Do you believe that  young people are more likely than older generations to view themselves as pro -Palestinian, as the International Herald Tribune article suggests? And does it matter, if a stable 60% of Americans continue to sympathize more with the Israelis?

Katy first globals, global issues, international, politics first globals, Generations, international, middle east, summer, zogby