A survey representing the thoughts of more than one billion people worldwide finds that half those questioned think global security is “poor” and that the next generation will live in a less safe world.

Gallup International conducted the research, collecting the views of more than 43,000 people worldwide to represent a projected one billion-plus people.

Individuals feel they have little or no personal impact on the economic, political and social factors that affect daily life, according to the study.

U.S. respondents are more upbeat in their ratings for both the current situation and the future than is the “average” global citizen. Almost half of those interviewed in the U.S. (45 percent) say they are more prosperous now than ten years ago. And four out of ten Americans (40 percent) rated their national security as “good,” although the same assessment was only given to international security by one in four (24 percent).

Many respondents in all countries rate environmental security as poor, and this is particularly true in Ukraine, the site of the Chernobyl accident, where seven out of ten (72 percent) rate environmental security as poor.

For the full report and an executive survey, visit the World Economic Forum’s Web site at http://www.weforum.org/securitysurvey.