Arab Barometer, which has been tracking the views of ordinary citizens across the Middle East and North Africa since 2006 and is the longest standing and largest repository of publicly available data on those views, has recently completed its seventh round of polling in the region. The data was collected between October 2021 and July 2022 and is based on face-to-face interviews with thousands of citizens across the countries polled.
The Middle East Institute, in partnership with Arab Barometer, is pleased to present a series of panel discussions bringing key findings of the polling data to the public. The first of the series will feature a presentation by Michael Robbins, Director and Co-Principal Investigator for Arab Barometer, that will focus on respondent views on international relations, including attitudes towards the U.S., China, Russia, and major regional actors Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.
Over the coming weeks, additional panel discussions will present Arab Barometer findings on regional attitudes on economic issues, gender, and climate change.
Speakers
Jon Alterman
Senior Vice President, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Director, Middle East Program, CSIS
Merissa Khurma
Program Director, Middle East Program, Wilson Center
Michael Robbins
Director and Co-Principal Investigator, Arab Barometer
Amb. (ret.) Gerald Feierstein, moderator
Distinguished Sr. Fellow on U.S. Diplomacy; Director, Arabian Peninsula Affairs, MEI
Five Key Takeaways
- Across the Middle East and North Africa, China receives more popular support than the United States: Although support for China appears to be on the decline, in all but one country surveyed about half or more people have a favorable view on China. China has invested considerable time, energy and resources into their soft power in the region and has used it to support anti-Western sentiment. However, the expansion of ‘China, Inc.’ is not likely to help China’s image in the Middle East and North Africa over time.
- Perceptions of the U.S. vary across issues: Biden’s policies are viewed more favorably than Trump’s were viewed. Building partnerships between countries in the region and the U.S. could improve perceptions of Biden’s administration. Most countries surveyed would rather do business with the U.S. or Germany than China, and Western countries such as the United States or Canada are still desirable targets for migration.
- The U.S. is a known entity in the Middle East: The U.S. represents the status quo in the Middle East. Across the region, the U.S. is viewed as a greater threat than China. This could be due to China’s status as an unknown entity or its lack of colonial history in the region.
- Perceptions of Russia are less favorable than perceptions of countries such as Saudi Arabia or Turkey: Although the region has felt the economic effects of the war in Ukraine, it has not necessarily dented the perception of Russia in the Middle East. Russian social media platforms are successful in portraying the country as overall positive in the region.
- These perceptions are mostly instinctual: Foreign affairs are tangential to most people’s lives. Within communities, there are often strong divides between viewpoints. Many people base their opinions on the media that they consume, but it is easy to overinterpret how deeply people feel about these issues.
Detailed Speaker Biographies
Jon Alterman
Jon B. Alterman is a senior vice president, holds the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and is the director of the Middle East Program at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS in 2002, he served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State and as a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs. From 2009 to 2019, he served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. Earlier in his career, Alterman was a scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace and at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a legislative aide to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan (D-NY) responsible for foreign policy and defense.
Merissa Khurma
Merissa Khurma is the program director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. She was a non-resident fellow in the International Security program at New America. She has leadership experience working in a range of development projects in the Middle East that focused on economic development, the Syrian refugee crisis, education, youth, gender development, and governance. Additionally, Khurma served as director of the Office of Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (2010- 2013) and as press attaché and director of the Information Bureau at the Embassy of Jordan in Washington, D.C. (2003-2010). Khurma has a master of public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, a master of science in international security and foreign policy from Georgetown University, and a bachelor of art in political science from McGill University. She is also a leadership development practitioner with a focus on Adaptive Leadership, Public Narrative & Community Organizing. Merissa speaks Arabic and French.
Michael Robbins
Michael Robbins is the director and co-principal investigator of Arab Barometer. He has been a part of the project since its inception and serving as its director since 2014. He has led or overseen more than 100 surveys in international contexts and is a leading expert in survey methods on ensuring data quality. His work on Arab public opinion, political Islam and political parties has been published in Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Democracy and Foreign Affairs. He received the American Political Science Association Aaron Wildavsky Award for the Best Dissertation in the field of Religion and Politics.
Amb. (ret.) Gerald Feierstein
Amb. (ret.) Gerald Feierstein is a distinguished senior fellow on U.S. diplomacy at MEI, and director of its Arabian Peninsula Affairs program. He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in May 2016, after a 41-year career, with the personal rank of Career Minister. As a diplomat, he served in nine overseas postings, including three tours of duty in Pakistan, as well as assignments in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon, Jerusalem, and Tunisia. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Amb. Feierstein U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, where he served until 2013. From 2013 until his retirement, Amb. Feierstein was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
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