The conflict between the United States and Iran escalated in January. This has fueled fears of a war that could also affect Germany.
Berlin (dpa) - One in four in this country is very worried that Germany could be involved in a military conflict. As can be seen from the "Security Report 2020", fear of war has never been higher since the start of the survey for the annual report in 2011.
However, concerns about personal well-being are even more serious for most people. Above all, the question of whether you can do without care in old age and whether you are financially secure is of concern to the population.
According to the study published on Wednesday, 66 percent of people in Germany believe that the greatest threat to peace in the world will come from Iran in the coming years. The USA (61 percent) is in second place in the list of countries that pose such a threat, followed by North Korea, Turkey and - in fifth place - Russia. Multiple answers were possible on this question.
At the same time, 39 percent of Germans still name the United States as their most important military ally. However, there are clear differences between East and West on this question. While 41 percent of West Germans consider the United States to be their most important ally, it is only 30 percent in the East. According to the information, 34 percent of the West and 37 percent of East Germans consider France to be the number one military ally.
Worries that concern environmental issues or one's own health are even more important than fear of war or terror. As the researchers found in their January survey, nothing drives people as much as the worry of being demented and dependent on care in old age. The fear of the effects of climate change is almost as great. Poverty in old age and terrorist attacks are also perceived as risks.
70 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement that there are "lawless areas in which the state no longer enforces law and order" in Germany. Twelve percent of the study participants do not see it that way. 18 percent of those questioned were undecided on this point.
The pollsters had also asked about a topic that is currently controversial among domestic politicians - automatic face recognition. According to Allensbach, 78 percent of the population believes that public crime-fighting sites such as train stations and airports should be monitored with video cameras that can automatically recognize faces. Only twelve percent clearly opposed it. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) had deleted a passage that would have permitted the use of such systems from an internal draft for the new Federal Police Act. The original proposal provided for an automatic comparison of the video recordings with image databases of the police.