Via Drew Zahn:

A series of polls released over the last few weeks shows most Americans believe a global conflict is raging between Islam and the West.

Specifically, Rasmussen Reports polls found that 63 percent of likely U.S. voters believe a battle is brewing, while only 18 percent deny the divide.

Furthermore, when asked about many Western nations’ support of the populist uprisings known as “the Arab Spring,” only 26 percent of voters think the United States should do more to encourage the growth of democracy in the Islamic world, while 58 percent say the United States should leave things alone.

The numbers became even more significant when separating mainstream U.S. voters from a group Rasmussen calls the “political class.”

For example, Rasmussen found that 73 percent of mainstream U.S. voters believe there is a conflict in the world between Western civilization and Islamic nations, and a plurality (49 percent) believe most of the world’s Muslims view America as an enemy.

But only half of Rasmussen’s “political class” acknowledges a global conflict, and 62 percent reject the idea that Muslims view the U.S. as an enemy.

Similarly, 61 percent of mainstream voters suspect a terrorist attack in the U.S. in the next year is likely, while 70 percent of the political class see little or no chance of such an attack.

Rasmussen found that taken as a whole, however, only 11 percent of likely U.S. voters think the war on terror is over, while 79 percent say that war, declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, is still ongoing.