As Tunisia’s major political crisis unfolds, some commentators have argued that the country’s citizens never wanted democracy in the first place.  However, data from Arab Barometer presents a different picture. In recently conducted surveys from the Arab Barometer’s sixth wave, a majority of Tunisians say that democracy is always preferable to other forms of government compared to just a quarter…

Tunisia, often referred to as the democratic success story coming out of the Arab Spring, has experienced what some are calling a coup following President Kais Saied’s decision to dismiss Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspend parliament. Others say that the president has acted legally under article 80 of Tunisia’s constitution, setting up a significant constitutional crisis. Rached Ghannouchi, the…

The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect everyone equally; every region of the world has reported on the gender disparity of the virus’s toll. This is of particular concern in the MENA region, where women’s rights and roles in the public sphere have been limited by both legal and societal norms. Given the pre-pandemic status of women in the MENA region,…

MENA countries have differed substantially in their reaction and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A regional comparison shows richer countries administering larger quantities of vaccines, relative to their population, than the non-oil exporting countries. Arab Barometer’s Wave VI, which concluded its third survey in March-April 2021, has revealed another troubling trend: vaccine hesitancy among large swaths of the MENA population….

France has a long history of engagement with MENA, including as a colonial power and through numerous military interventions. More recently, Emmanuel Macron has sought to increase France’s influence across MENA. In 2020, he personally interceded to try to find a solution to the crisis in Lebanon and has worked to deepen engagement with other countries in the region.  Nevertheless,…

A series of panels discussing the Sixth Wave of the Arab Barometer. The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to hold the final event in a four-part series in cooperation with Arab Barometer, on the occasion of the publication of Arab Barometer’s findings from the sixth wave of its surveys. This most recent poll was conducted in the wake of…

A series of panels discussing the Sixth Wave of the Arab Barometer. The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to hold the third event in a four-part series in cooperation with Arab Barometer, on the occasion of the publication of Arab Barometer’s findings from the sixth wave of its surveys. This most recent poll was conducted in the wake of…

A series of panels discussing the Sixth Wave of the Arab Barometer. The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to announce a four-part series in cooperation with Arab Barometer, on the occasion of the publication of Arab Barometer’s findings from the sixth wave of its surveys. This most recent poll was conducted in the wake of the outbreak of Covid-19,…

Background: In the sixth wave of Arab Barometer, we interviewed citizens from seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa within the period of July 2020 – April 2021, tracking citizens’ evaluations of their economic situation during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic. About AB6 How we did this. The following factsheet sets out some of the main…

“Health cannot be bought at the supermarket,” Hans Rosling once reminded audiences in 2006 when discussing health data and development in countries in the Arab region, among others. The famed physician and former professor of international health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute continued, “You have to invest in health. You have to get kids into schooling. You have to train health…

In our surveys last fall, China was a clear winner in the competition between great powers for hearts and minds of ordinary citizens in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In all countries surveyed, China was viewed far more favorably than then United States. However, this finding has changed over the past six months, with U.S. favorability increasing dramatically…

Efforts to control the spread of covid-19 have prompted governments across the Arab World to pursue aggressive strategies — from closing international borders and imposing curfews, to restricting movement between cities and expanding digital surveillance of citizens. Such measures expose not only the tension between public health safeguards and protecting individual civil liberties; rather, they also reveal the threat of…