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As great power competition in the Middle East heats up, polling data shows a complex picture of popular attitudes
International Relations Blog Posts

As great power competition in the Middle East heats up, polling data shows a complex picture of popular attitudes

This piece is part of a four-part series published by the Middle East Institute in cooperation with Arab Barometer analyzing the results of the seventh wave of the Arab Barometer surveys. Apart from Europe and the South China Sea region, the Middle East and North Africa is one of the epicenters for what the U.S. has termed “great power competition” especially between the…

February 21, 2023
Citizen priorities on the environment and climate change in MENA
Environment Blog Posts

Citizen priorities on the environment and climate change in MENA

This piece is part of a four-part series published by the Middle East Institute in cooperation with Arab Barometer analyzing the results of the seventh wave of the Arab Barometer surveys.   The results of the seventh wave survey from Arab Barometer, a non-partisan research network that provides insight into Arab citizen views, shed light on regional perspectives on issues of climate change, water resources,…

February 14, 2023
Gender gaps in MENA remain stubbornly entrenched, despite positive trends
Gender Issues Blog Posts

Gender gaps in MENA remain stubbornly entrenched, despite positive trends

This piece is part of a four-part series published by the Middle East Institute in cooperation with Arab Barometer analyzing the results of the seventh wave of the Arab Barometer surveys. Key findings from the latest Arab Barometer survey, its seventh wave, reveal that clear majorities in the 12 countries in which the survey was conducted still hold traditional views on gender norms. Despite…

February 8, 2023
Citizens’ views on Egypt’s economic woes
COVID-19EconomyFreedomsSocial Justice Blog Posts

Citizens’ views on Egypt’s economic woes

Egypt’s National Nutrition Institute (NNI) recent recommendation to “eat chicken feet” as a budget-friendly form of protein animated pundits and the public this past December 2022. The attempt to help citizens navigate increasingly dire economic conditions was lambasted and ridiculed. The declaration, which was put forward earnestly,  highlighted just how grim Egypt’s predicament had become. Fielded 11 months before the…

February 6, 2023
Support for a two-state solution among Palestinians and Israelis declines
Blog Posts

Support for a two-state solution among Palestinians and Israelis declines

Support for a two-state solution among Palestinians and Israelis declines to just one-third on each side, along with growing opposition to the detailed items of a permanent peace agreement for implementing a two-state solution. Slightly more Israeli Jews support one unequal state under Israeli rule than the two-state solution; but both publics still prefer two states to any other democratic…

January 30, 2023
Libyans want citizenship for children of women married to foreigners
Gender IssuesSocial Justice Blog Posts

Libyans want citizenship for children of women married to foreigners

On October 19, 2022, the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Libya decreed that children of Libyan women married to foreigners must enjoy the same rights as Libyan citizens, including access to free healthcare and education inside the country and acceptance at Libyan schools abroad. The decree also waived visa requirement for the group. Children of Libyan women married to…

October 20, 2022
Citizens Lukewarm on Leaders’ Cold War
International Relations Blog Posts

Citizens Lukewarm on Leaders’ Cold War

Over the last decade, there has been an ongoing competition for leadership within the Middle East and North Africa. Some have described this as a new Arab Cold War, with an anti-Iran and anti-Islamist block led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on one side with a more pro-Iran and pro-Islamist bloc led by Turkey and Qatar on…

September 15, 2022
How Do MENA Citizens View Normalization With Israel?
International Relations Blog Posts

How Do MENA Citizens View Normalization With Israel?

There is broad rejection among ordinary citizens across MENA of the U.S.-backed Abraham Accords and a broader peace deal with Israel. Although at most about a quarter of citizens in the region say they follow news on this issue a great deal or fair amount, including just one-in-ten in Tunisia, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, these peace agreements are widely…

September 12, 2022
Re-thinking the drivers of regular and irregular migration: evidence from the MENA region
Migration Blog Posts

Re-thinking the drivers of regular and irregular migration: evidence from the MENA region

Why do individuals vary in their desire to emigrate? Why are some willing to emigrate irregularly? My recently published open access article in Comparative Migration Studies tests four theoretical approaches to these two questions—socio-demographics; economic and political context; access to migrant networks; and psychological factors—across 12 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. To do so, it uses logistic…

May 26, 2022
Half of Lebanese consider migrating
CorruptionEconomyMigration Blog Posts

Half of Lebanese consider migrating

Lebanese are the most pessimistic about their country’s economic future of any country surveyed in Arab Barometer’s sixth wave between 2020 and the spring of 2021. Among all the economic worries, the rising cost of living is seen as the biggest challenge. Unsurprisingly, about half citizens (48 percent) are seeking to leave their homeland for better opportunities abroad. Yet, when…

April 26, 2022
Iraq Pulse: unrest amid the COVID-19 pandemic
CorruptionCOVID-19EconomyFreedomsGender IssuesGovernancePolitical Institutions Blog Posts

Iraq Pulse: unrest amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Nearly 19 years have passed since the removal of Saddam Hussein from power and the establishment of the second republic of Iraq. While the structures of the State and the political system have been deeply and extensively reshaped, the impact of this transformation on the life of Iraqis remains debated. The latest Arab Barometer’s (AB) survey (Wave VI which was–…

April 19, 2022