Afghanistan

South Asians rated their lives worse in 2011 than residents in other parts of Asia. At least one in five adults in Nepal (31%), Afghanistan (30%), India (24%), Sri Lanka (22%), and Pakistan (21%) are considered "suffering."

Residents in most Asian countries surveyed in 2011 are more likely to approve of their leaders than disapprove. Laos' president earned one of the highest approval ratings (97%), while Pakistan's president earned the lowest (20%).

An average of 13% of adults worldwide rated their lives poorly enough to be "suffering" in 2011. Suffering ranged from 45% in Bulgaria to 1% or less in the United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada, Thailand, and Brazil.

Half of Americans say the U.S. should withdraw troops from Afghanistan faster than the end of 2014, while 24% prefer the current timetable and 21% oppose a timetable. Americans still say the U.S. was right to send troops there.

A new low of 26% of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, down 11 percentage points since mid-May and by far the lowest of his presidency. More broadly, Obama is at a low ebb on five of seven major issues tested in the new poll.

Fifty-five percent of Americans are not worried that the United States' planned withdrawal from Afghanistan will make the U.S. more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Americans are less concerned now than when President Obama announced the surge strategy and initial timetable for withdrawal in 2009.

By 72% to 23%, more Americans favor than oppose President Barack Obama's recently announced plan to gradually withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan by 2014. However, fewer than half agree with the goal of withdrawing 30,000 troops in the first 15 months or with Obama's timetable specifically.

The countries with the highest wellbeing tend to be the most peaceful and those with the lowest wellbeing are the least likely to be peaceful. The findings are from a new Gallup analysis revealing a strong relationship between Gallup's life evaluation measure and two indicators of country stability.

Americans' views on the situation in Afghanistan are more positive after the death of Osama bin Laden, but the event did not dramatically alter their basic support for the war or their views about how it is going. A majority now say the U.S. has accomplished its mission and should bring its troops home.