PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
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The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
World Public Favors New Powers for the UN
Most Support Standing UN Peacekeeping Force,
UN Regulation of International Arms Trade
Majorities Say UN Should Have Right to Authorize Military Force
to Stop Terrorism, Nuclear Proliferation, Genocide
May 9, 2007, 18:30 GMT
Contact, International Findings:
Steven Kull, 202-232-7500
Christopher Whitney, 312-451-1040
May 9, 2007, Yerevan, 23:30
Contact, Armenia Findings:
Stepan Safarian, 37410-528-780
Syuzanna Barseghian, 37410-274-818
Yerevan–The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
today convened a roundtable discussion to present the results of the seventh
in a series of reports based on a poll of worldwide opinion on key global
issues. The report was devoted to the United Nations’ role in world affairs.
The meeting brought together citizens, members of leading think tanks,
analysts, and media representatives.
ACNIS director of research Stepan Safarian delivered opening remarks.
"According to the results of the international survey, the world public
greatly favors giving the UN greater powers of intervention to prevent and
handle global crises," he said. "The opinions of Armenian respondents also
reflect this international attitude. This can partly be explained by the
fact that Armenia is located in a volatile region and face many security
challenges." ACNIS analyst Syuzanna Barseghian then presented survey
results.
Publics around the world favor dramatic steps to strengthen the United
Nations, including giving it the power to have its own standing peacekeeping
force, to regulate the international arms trade and to investigate human
rights abuses.
Large majorities believe the United Nations Security Council should have the
right to authorize military force to prevent nuclear proliferation, genocide
and terrorism. However support is not as robust among the publics polled
for accepting UN decisions that go against their countries’ preferences.
These are some of the findings from a survey conducted by The Chicago
Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org, in cooperation with
polling organizations around the world. Respondents were interviewed in
countries that represent 56 percent of the world’s population: China,
India, the United States, Russia, France, Thailand, Ukraine, Poland, Iran,
Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Armenia
and Israel, plus the Palestinian territories. Not all questions were asked
in all countries.
The idea of "having a standing UN peacekeeping force selected, trained and
commanded by the United Nations" gets support from majorities in 12 of the
14 countries asked (64% on average). Peru is the most enthusiastic (77%),
followed by Armenia (75%), France (74%), Thailand (73%), and the United
States (72%). In none of the countries polled do most respondents oppose
this idea, though views are divided in the Philippines.
Support for "giving the UN the power to regulate the international arms
trade" is also supported by majorities or pluralities in 12 of the 14
countries (55% on average). France shows the greatest support (77%),
followed by South Korea (75%), Israel (60%) and the United States (60%).
Only two publics tend to reject the idea: Filipinos (58% say no) and
Argentines (42% negative, 36% positive).
Giving the UN authority "to investigate violations of human rights" receives
very high levels of support (64% overall). Overwhelming majorities favor
this idea in France (92%), the United States (75%), Peru (75%), and South
Korea (74%). No country is opposed, though Filipinos are divided.
"Despite well-publicized disagreements over the role of the United Nations
in world affairs, this survey clearly shows that international public
opinion has coalesced around the notion that the UN should be the vehicle
for conflict resolution and international cooperation on a wide variety of
pressing problems," said Christopher Whitney, executive director for studies
at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Steven Kull, editor of WorldPublicOpinion.org, adds, "While leaders of
nation states may be wary of giving the United Nations more power it is
clear that publics around the world are comfortable with the idea of a
stronger UN," Kull said.
Even the idea of giving the UN authority to fund its activities through a
tax on the international sale of arms or oil is supported by nine of the 14
countries polled, though support is more moderate (on average 46% in favor
to 37% opposed). Among Americans, though, only 45 percent favor the idea,
while 50 percent are opposed.
The poll also finds support for giving the UN Security Council the right to
authorize the use of military force to address a wide range of problems.
Not surprisingly, using military force to "defend a country that has been
attacked" is strongly supported. In all countries polled, large majorities,
ranging from 84 percent in France to 66 percent in India, believe the
Security Council should have this right.
Clear majorities in 10 countries polled also favor a more controversial
option of giving the Security Council the right to authorize the use of
military force "to stop a country from supporting terrorist groups."
Palestinians and South Koreans are the least supportive (61% each) while the
most supportive are the Israelis (85%) and the French (84%). Average
support for this idea is 71 percent.
Publics show very strong support for allowing the UN Security Council to use
military force to "prevent severe human rights violations such as genocide."
Very large majorities in all 12 countries polled on this issue agree that
the Security Council should have the right to use force in such cases.
Majorities or pluralities in 12 countries go further and say the United
Nations has the responsibility to use force to stop such abuses.
Interestingly, the Chinese (76%) show the strongest support for the idea
that the UN has a responsibility to halt genocide, followed by Americans
(74%) and Palestinians (69%).
Support is more modest for using collective force to stop nuclear
proliferation. In eight out of 11 countries polled, the most common view is
that the UN should have the right to use force to prevent countries from
acquiring nuclear weapons. But on average just 53 percent favor this
option. These results are particularly relevant to the international
controversy over Iran’s decision to continue enriching uranium in defiance
of the UN Security Council.
There is less enthusiasm about submitting to UN decisions even if this means
going along with policies that are not a country’s first choice. Ten of the
16 publics asked about this say that their country should do so, but only
four of these are a clear majority, while six are pluralities.
For details, please see or
WorldPublicOpinion.org is a publication of the
Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland. For
the Armenian version, visit
Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
understanding of the new global environment. In 2007, the Center focuses
primarily on civic education, democratic development, conflict resolution,
and applied research on critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the
state and the nation.
For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax
(37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected]; or visit