Search

Public opinion data toward war in Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Turkey is analyzed. Educational attainment is also shown to have no links with believing that war is needed for obtaining justice and that UN approval is needed before using military force to deal with an international threat. Concerns that education may not be helping in peaceful conflict resolution are also verified.

Little is known about service personnel's perceptions of the media's coverage of war and its impact on the personnel and their families. Using data collected from a major cohort study of the British Armed Forces, this article examines perceptions of the coverage of the Iraq War among British personnel deployed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation Telic 1). It draws on the theories of media's effects and gauges whether hostile media effect or assimilation bias effect takes precedence. The authors qualitatively analyzed the responses of 200 military personnel regarding their perceptions of the media and supplemented this by further quantitative analysis. This led the authors to identify concerns that the media coverage was unsuitable, inaccurate, and too immediate; however, in some cases, coverage was considered beneficial. The importance of the family to those deployed and the extent to which media coverage can affect morale make the military family an important media audience. Keywords: media; military; Iraq War; perceptions

Americans allegedly have an aversion to battle-related military casualties. Their estimates of military deaths may have influenced support for past U.S. military efforts. But what affects accurate estimates of military deaths in wartime? We review the accuracy of estimates for Iraq and three twentieth-century conflicts, finding that the public's estimates were more likely to be on target for Iraq. Then using five polls from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, we estimate logistic regression equations in which knowledge of military deaths is regressed on variables typically employed when scholars seek to understand the factors that affect what people know about public affairs. Gender and age always emerge as significant predictors. Education and attention to the news usually matter as well. We also show that estimates of military deaths in Iraq have palpable consequences for opinions about U.S. policies there. Keywords: Iraq War; casualty knowledge; public opinion; policy preferences

The situation in Iraq is improving. With the right strategy, the United States will eventually be able to draw down troops without sacrificing stability. The Iraq war has become one [...]

A measure on attitudes toward war was administered to 125 student participants at a California university to assess psychometric properties for this scale for possible use in current research. A 5-point scale was substituted for the 2-point one originally. Item analysis indicated 23 of 32 items were viable. Using Cronbach reliability coefficient [alpha] and factor analysis, the shortened measure had an internal consistency reliability of .85. Factor analysis yielded a 4-factor structure: (1) War is Bad, (2) War is Necessary, (3) Positive Aspects of War, and (4) No Justification. These results indicate this seemingly outdated measure of war attitudes remains useful for current research purposes involving measuring attitudes toward war. However, longitudinal research is necessary.

The influence of body count and casualty ratio frames as well as individual casualty tolerance on public perception and support for the U.S. military intervention in Iraq is examined. The direct impact of a subset of variables on public attitudes was tested by means of two experiments and the results demonstrate the influence of casualty frames on public perceptions and clarify understanding of the determinants and impact of individual casualty tolerance.

The common reference to the war as the 'Vietnam War' locates it politically and geographically in a specific region and country as the war was promoted as being in, about, and for Vietnam. The shifting view of public opinion about the war as captured in the Pew survey further underscores the political nature of the war.

A brief description on the two American wars, Vietnam War and the Invasion of Iraq is presented. American public support for the war against Iraq was predicted as a compelling justification.

If war were not so terrible, Robert E. Lee observed as he watched the slaughter at Fredericksburg, 'we should grow too fond of it.' Lee's remark, uttered in the very [...]

Two specialists on Russian society and politics analyze how Russians view human rights and the conflict in Chechnya, as well as factors shaping views on these issues within Russia, based on a survey conducted in October 2001. The authors discuss how their results diverge from the findings of other studies of Russian public opinion on issues relating to democracy, consider several explanations for the patterns they observe, and propose some appropriate policy measures.

Opinion polls conducted in United States, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, and Spain reveals major differences in reactions on the U.S. attack on Iraq. The British, Italian, and Spanish oppose whereas Americans and Canadians give majority support to the U.S. attack on Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein.

This study investigated the association of Kosovo's 1999 war with a value rating of 56 female French students and links between values evaluated at two times (before and during the war) and attitudes towards the Balkan war. Subjects completed a survey of 15 values by means of a 9-point Likert-type scale one month before the beginning of the Balkan war (Time 1) and during the war, 3 mo. later (Time 2). Attitude towards the war was also measured by means of a 4-item scale completed at Time 2. Analysis indicated two slight unpredicted shifts: Universalism and Stimulation value-types were rated higher at Time 2 than at Time 1. Moreover, two value-types were consistently correlated both at Times 1 and 2 with prowar attitudes: conformity (r = .29 and .27) and universalism (r = -.29 and -.43). This latter result, consistent with our hypothesis, suggested that individuals' values represent modest but significant correlates of prowar attitudes.

Parallels are demonstrated between changes in Swedish attitudes toward peace and war, reflected in the image of the 'war-hero', Karl XII, and the increasing peacefulness of Swedish society. The value changes are documented through analyses of four literary works: those of Geijer and Tegner, who glorified Karl XII as 'war-hero', and Heidenstam and Strindberg, who described the same Karl XII as a psychopath and villain and as a scourge for his country. As Geijer and Tegner wrote at the beginning of the 19th century, whereas Heidenstam and Strindberg produced their works at the end of it, the value changes occurring during this century can be demonstrated in these literary works. Relations between changed mentalities, as reflected in the literary works, and political decisions are explored. Finally, as a resulting implication, the potential impact of critical attitudes of the electorate on a leader's election and on his license for engaging in impulsive wars is discussed.

When the United States began its overt military conflict with Iraq in January 1991, the American news media focused attention powerfully and seemingly unceasingly on the Gulf crisis for a period of almost three months. Through analysis of data collected in a panel survey conducted before and after the war, we found that paralleling this surge in media coverage were significant alterations in the ingredients of Americans' assessments of George Bush's job performance. After the war, these assessments were based much more on citizens' beliefs about his effectiveness in managing the conflict, and much less on their confidence in his handling of other foreign relations matters or the domestic economy. We found as well that these shifts were regulated by citizens' levels of political knowledge, exposure to political news, and interest in the war. Greater shifts were associated with higher levels of knowledge and lower levels of exposure and interest. These findings challenge traditional views of these dimensions of political involvement and support an alternative view derived from contemporary psychological theories of information processing.

IN 1920, THE WAR CORRESPONDENT Philip Gibbs published his account of The Realities of War. Although Gibbs assiduously denied that his reporting from the Front during the Great War had [...]

On May 24, 2000, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) completed a unilateral withdrawal from southern Lebanon, ending a 22-year occupation. Shi'ite guerrillas from the Hizbullah and Amal militias, which had [...]

This study examined the stress response of 86 civilian subjects at the onset of the Persian Gulf War. The Impact of Events Scale (IES) and the Symptom Checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R) were used to measure participants' subjective stress response and symptoms of psychological distress. Subjects also completed a demographic questionnaire that included questions that ranged from religious affiliation to approval of the war effort. The study describes war-related stress and the influence of age, religious faith, and attitudes about war on reported levels of stress. Results indicate measurable levels of war-related stress in this civilian population.

The outbreak of American military actions against Iraq in 1990 inspired many people to publicly display yellow ribbons as a sign of support. These ribbons were often displayed along with patriotic symbols as the American flag, and flag-derived color motifs. Moreover, both the ribbons and the flags were often displayed in conjunction with the usual holiday decorations appropriate to the season. Using a variety of symbols, people created folk assemblages that commented on and reflected issues of war and politics, and that mediated individual opinions and community expression. In these folk assemblages of war we see the creation of tradition out of elements of folk, popular, and mass culture; and the dynamic use of traditional forms in society,.

Insight into the effect of domestic factors on the international conflict behavior of democratic states can be garnered from treating electoral cycles as cycles in the relative power of state and society. This article shows that there is a discernible relationship between election cycles and the behavior of democratic states in international conflicts. In the past 200 years, democratic states have tended to get into relatively more wars early in the election cycle and fewer wars late in the cycle. Interestingly, this result holds regardless of whether it was a democracy or a nondemocracy which initiated the war. The author argues, however, that this pattern at the international level is insufficient for drawing firm conclusions about the preferences of democratic states and societies at the domestic level. Finally, the author suggests that although election dynamics may mitigate against war entry in the short run, it is plausible that they have made war more likely or more severe in the long run.

A research is conducted to know the attitudes of Americans' about the war in Iraq. The result reveals that 50% say that it was worth going to war in Iraq and 47% say it was not worth.

Quarter of American says that the most important problem in Iraq is the fear of war. The result suggests that 26% Americans say that Iraq is the nation's top problem.

Majority of Americans continue to support United States military involvement in Iraq. The result indicates that nine in ten Republicans support the war, while two-thirds of democrats oppose it.

A survey is conducted to find whether the Americans support or oppose invading Iraq with U.S ground troops inn an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power. A significant education gap, a majority of the most highly educated group of Americans opposed to war, while an equal majority of the rest is in favor.

A survey was conducted to identify the views of American public about the current situation in Iraq. The poll shows that Americans predict a long war with Iraq and are quite optimistic that the United States would win a war with Iraq.

A survey conducted by the Gallup poll asks Americans to name the most important problem that the country is facing. The possibility of war, the concerns about terrorism and the international relations in general are regarded as major problems.

Polling was in its infancy during World War II, and Gallup and Roper asked Americans many interesting questions about the war and the homefront. In commentary on its 1941 Roper [...]