Around the world, students graduating from university worry about finding good jobs. Graduates from Egypt have a little more cause for concern than many of their peers: investing their time and money in higher education has statistically lowered their chances of finding employment. According to the European Training Foundation, in 2016, unemployment for youth in Egypt aged 15-24 was 11.3…
Search results for: Wave IX
Covid-19 in the Middle East: Regional Impact and Future Recovery
A series of panels discussing the Sixth Wave of the Arab Barometer. The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to hold the second 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…
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…
CorruptionDemocracyEconomyGovernancePolitical ParticipationPolitical SystemsSecuritySocial JusticeYouth
Liberal Democracy Still Favored in MENA, but Publics Increasingly Open to Alternatives
For Immediate Release **Please credit Arab Barometer** Citizens across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) continue to express support for democracy, but frustrations with both authoritarian rule and stalled democratic transitions are driving some toward alternative systems, according to Arab Barometer’s eighth wave of surveys. The new report examines which forms of governance MENA publics believe can best deliver…
Youth Outlooks: Life Quality and Economic Conditions (PART I)
Compared to the world’s median age of 28, the median age in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is 22, making the youth a substantial 28 percent of the population in the region. Unemployment rates are increasing as the region’s population grows almost twice as fast as the world’s overall. The quality of life for the youth is thus…
An Expiry Date for Despots?
A new wave of Arab uprisings suggests that the authoritarian bargain of the past may be collapsing. While thousands of Algerian citizens have continued to protest peacefully for the 40th consecutive week, demanding an accountable government and an end to corruption, streets in Iraq and Lebanon have turned into places of mass protests and ongoing confrontations between angry citizens and…
Youth Outlooks: Life Quality and Economic Conditions (PART II)
What drives differences in future optimism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region? Part I of this series suggested that there is no perfect correlation between quality of life and evaluations of economic conditions. MENA citizens can believe that their quality of life in the future will be better, even if they simultaneously have less faith in the…
Can Protest Movements in the MENA Region Turn COVID-19 Into an Opportunity for Change?
COVID-19 has offered regimes in the region the opportunity to end popular protest. The squares of Algiers, Baghdad, and Beirut – all packed with protesters over the past few months – are now empty due to the pandemic, and political gatherings have also been suspended. In Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon, COVID-19 has achieved what snipers, pro-regime propaganda, and even the…
Fact Sheet: Prevalence of Mental Health Problems in MENA
Background In the fifth and latest wave of the Arab Barometer, we asked over 25,000 citizens throughout the Middle East and North Africa questions about potential issues regarding mental health. These results suggest additional challenges for governments across the region to tackle. The following factsheet sets out some of the main findings and links to wider information where it is…
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…
FACT SHEET: WORLD HEALTH DAY
Background In the fifth and latest wave of the Arab Barometer, we asked over 25,000 citizens throughout the Middle East and North Africa a series of questions related to World Health Day, including questions relating to evaluations of the healthcare system, and to environmental health issues. The following factsheet sets out some of the main findings and links to wider…
Five Lessons From the New Arab Uprisings
…The fifth and final lesson is that the call for change in the region goes beyond electoral democracy and extends to deep socioeconomic reforms. Iraq and Lebanon show this clearly: relatively free and fair elections have already been held but have served only to reinforce corrupt sectarian regimes. According to the fifth wave of the Arab Barometer, the economic situation…