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Is COVID-19 compelling Arab citizens to surrender freedoms to their governments?
COVID-19FreedomsGender IssuesPolitical InstitutionsYouth Blog Posts

Is COVID-19 compelling Arab citizens to surrender freedoms to their governments?

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…

May 24, 2021
Whither Erdogan? Regional Leadership and the struggle for Arab Hearts and Minds
International Relations Blog Posts

Whither Erdogan? Regional Leadership and the struggle for Arab Hearts and Minds

In the rivalry for regional influence, it is not only states that jostle for strategic primacy and public positioning in Arab countries. Regional leaders have also sought to project and represent their states’ foreign policies and aspire for public recognition. Some, like Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, even have an active and multi-lingual presence on Twitter and other social media…

April 21, 2021
Citizens weigh in on the health of their healthcare systems in MENA
GovernanceHealth Blog Posts

Citizens weigh in on the health of their healthcare systems in MENA

Of all the crises that have plagued countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the past decade, the COVID-19 pandemic stands out in at least one regard: the government in each country was not its primary cause. Yet managing the pandemic was the government’s primary responsibility, and citizens in several MENA countries have mixed appraisals of how…

April 7, 2021
Eye on Jordan
EducationGovernanceHealthLabor MarketMigrationPolitical Institutions Blog Posts

Eye on Jordan

The latest events in Jordan have prompted a closer examination of the country’s dynamics. Here are the latest figures for trust in government, satisfaction with government performance, and satisfaction with education and healthcare according to Arab Barometer Wave 6 data that was conducted in late 2020.   Our latest survey findings supplement previous analysis on Jordan by Dr. Abdul-Wahab Kayyali using Arab…

April 5, 2021
Education in Tunisia: Past progress, present decline and future challenges
Education Blog Posts

Education in Tunisia: Past progress, present decline and future challenges

Since its independence in 1956, Tunisia has placed a special emphasis on the development of the education sector. Shortly after independence in 1959, the government implemented an education plan, in which education was approached as a national investment and key determinant of the nation’s economic growth. After extensive evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the sector over several years,…

March 25, 2021
Palestinian anxieties over first elections in fifteen years
CorruptionCOVID-19GovernanceHealthInternational RelationsPolitical InstitutionsPolitical Participation Blog Posts

Palestinian anxieties over first elections in fifteen years

With rising confidence that parliamentary elections will indeed take place soon, and given clear anxieties about the possibility that the siege and blockade over the Gaza Strip could then be tightened, the split consolidated, and that economic conditions could worsen, and given concerns about the potential reaction from the international community and Israel, public attitudes seem to shift a little…

March 24, 2021
Fact Sheet: Libya’s Pulse during the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19EconomyEducationFreedomsGovernanceHealthInternational RelationsMediaPolitical InstitutionsReligionSecurity Blog Posts

Fact Sheet: Libya’s Pulse during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background The following are among the key findings from a nationally-representative public opinion survey conducted in Libya by Arab Barometer in October 2020. The survey conducted 1008 phone interviews with randomly-selected Libyan citizens aged 18 or older. This unique survey captures the sentiments of Libyan citizens during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey has a margin of…

March 16, 2021
Remote work and women’s employment in MENA: opportunity or pitfall?
COVID-19DiscriminationEconomyGender IssuesLabor Market Blog Posts

Remote work and women’s employment in MENA: opportunity or pitfall?

Many women in the Middle East and North Africa are not in the paid labour force despite being highly educated. Good internet access and the global shift to telework as a result of the pandemic would seem to offer them opportunities for work and greater gender equality. But as this column warns, while online employment lowers barriers to getting women…

February 24, 2021
Algeria’s Pulse: Two Years After “Hirak”
CorruptionFreedomsGovernancePolitical Systems Blog Posts

Algeria’s Pulse: Two Years After “Hirak”

Two years have passed since the advent of the Algerian “Hirak” – the social protest movement that instigated far reaching and substantial political change, primary among them was the prevention of a fifth presidential term for Abdelaziz Bouteflika. In Arab Barometer’s first survey of Wave 6, a substantial majority of Algerians (82 percent) believe that corruption was prevalent in state…

February 17, 2021
Libya’s Pulse: Ten Years After the Revolution
GovernancePolitical Systems Blog Posts

Libya’s Pulse: Ten Years After the Revolution

Ten years after the Libyan revolution, Libya makes international headlines for its civil conflict and institutional breakdown. Still, according to Arab Barometer surveys, a majority of Libyans have consistently said democracy is preferable to any other system of government. In Arab Barometer’s second survey of Wave 6, this is what Libyans said about characteristics of democracy:  

February 17, 2021