Poll: Fears of Islamic extremism on the rise

Concern about Islamic extremism is on the rise around the globe, according to new polling data from the Pew Research Center.

According to the global survey — which was conducted before Thursday’s killing of four Marines in Tennessee as well as a set of attacks across three continents in June — 53 percent of Americans say they are “very concerned” about Islamic extremism in the U.S., up from 36 percent in 2011.

{mosads}Similar numbers persist in many European nations, which have seen 20- and 30-point increases in the number of people reporting grave fears about extremist violence.

On average, the Pew survey found that 52 percent of people across nine Western nations were “very concerned” about the threat.

The concern was slightly lower in nine non-European countries with high Muslim populations but still on the rise in places like Nigeria, Lebanon and Pakistan.

The rising fears appear to coincide with the emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which has shown a penchant for brutal behavior and has encouraged “lone wolf” actors to inflict violence in their home countries.

The poll found a strong correlation between fears about ISIS, in particular, and general concern about extremism.

“As the Islamic militant group ISIS continues to entrench itself in Syria and Iraq, and instigate terrorist attacks around the world, concerns about Islamic extremism are growing in the West and in countries with significant Muslim populations,” Pew authors said.

The survey was conducted in the wake of January’s attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo and as videos of ISIS’s beheading of foreign hostages began to dominate news headlines.

It polled more than 21,000 people across 21 nations from April 5 to May 21.

In the U.S., pollsters found a demographic and partisan shift in people’s concerns about Islamic extremism.

Republicans, women, older people and those who said their religion was important to them were more concerned about the extremism, the survey found.