Background In the fifth and latest wave of the Arab Barometer, we asked citizens of Egypt and Iraq – around 2,400 in each country- if they generally approve of female circumcision. The following factsheet sets out some of the main findings and links to wider information where it is available. Key facts and figures APPROVAL OF FEMALE CIRCUMCISION IN EGYPT…
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Gender Inequality and Economic Inclusion in Tunisia: Key Policy Issues
….Sociocultural prescriptions about gender roles have changed less than the secular nature of the state might suggest. According to the sixth wave (2010-14) of the World Values Survey, 71% of respondents agreed that “when jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women” (see Table 2). The gender breakdown suggests that more men (82%) than women…
Changing Views of Iran After the 2026 War
Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, attention has focused largely on military escalation, regional security, and turmoil in global energy and commodity markets. Less attention has been paid to other potential consequences of the war, such as changing public opinion and the underlying frameworks through which regional and global actors are evaluated. With the recent signing of…
Algeria: Amid concerns about the pandemic and its economic impact, some optimism for the future
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 sixth wave of the Arab Barometer surveys. The Arab Barometer’s survey results for Algeria paint the picture of a population understandably worried about the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact. In surveys carried out in the country…
Amaney A. Jamal: The level of trust in the Hamas government is declining
Why do Palestinians not support either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority? Who would win the presidential election today? How influential is Iran and how many other powers? Can a two-state solution be achieved? Amaney A. Jamal, dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and co-principal of the Arab Barometer, answers these and other questions…
New Publication: Women’s Rights and Roles during the COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID and Gender in the Middle East, a recently released book edited by scholar Rita Stephan, is the first book to provide empirical evidence of COVID’s gendered effects. Centered within a feminist framework, this volume gathers an impressive group of Middle Eastern and North African scholars, activists, and policy experts. The book examines a range of national and localized responses…
Is This the End of Political Islam?
For decades, Islamic governance held allure in the Middle East. Now some scholars say the Islamist wave has passed. About a year after the Iranian revolution in 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of the new Islamic government, detailed his plan to govern according to Islam. The bearded, turbaned cleric said the state would support farmers and laborers and…
Determinants of input- and output-oriented conceptions of democracy in the Arabic world: a multi-level analysis (German)
“Since the 1990’s, more and more studies have been analyzing conceptions of democracy. This study focuses on determinants of conceptions of democracy in the Arabic world. Thereby, we distinguish between input- and output-oriented conceptions of democracy. Whereas the former ones are highlighting procedural elements of democracy, the latter ones focus on materialistic aspects of democracy. We test different theories (modernization…
Gender Attitudes and Trends in the Middle East and North Africa 2021-2022
Arab Barometer Wave VII surveys make clear that while Arab citizens hold largely traditional views on gender norms, minds are changing towards greater gender equality. Furthermore, governments have many tools in their arsenal to engage their underutilized female workforce.
Food Insecurity and its Discontents in the Middle East and North Africa
Food insecurity plagues majorities of citizens in six out of 10 countries surveyed as part of Arab Barometer’s seventh wave (2021-2022). Majorities from 53 percent in Libya to 68 percent in Egypt report that they ran out of food before they had money to buy more. And in nine out of 10 countries, more than half of all citizens express…
CorruptionCOVID-19DemocracyEconomyEnvironmentGender IssuesGovernanceInternational RelationsPolitical Institutions
Iraq Country Report 2021-2022
Findings from Arab Barometer’s latest wave in Iraq foreshadow the frustration that peaked in the summer of 2022. Citizens perceive corruption to be as high as their trust in political institutions is low. There is no consensus about what the biggest domestic challenges are, or what avenues provide the best course of redress. But whatever reform the system demands, Iraqis increasingly want…
Across the Maghreb, support for all outside actors, including China and Russia, remains low
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 sixth wave of the Arab Barometer surveys. In recent years, China and Russia have gradually increased their influence in the Maghreb. The two powers, relative newcomers to the regional scene compared to Europe and the U.S., have…
Confounding and confirming expectations on the “care economy” in MENA
Press Release Key findings from Salma Al-Shami and Maitha AlSuwaidi‘s new blog: -Arab Barometer findings from 12 countries surveyed in the seventh wave (2021-2022) partially confound expectations on unpaid care work in the region. The latest findings disrupt patriarchal preconceptions with respect to sharing childcare responsibilities but reinforce them when it comes to insisting that budgeting and spending are the…
What it is like to live in the Arab world today?
Join CEPS next Tuesday, January 28,2020, to discuss our latest wave of survey findings with Michael Robbins, Director of the Arab Barometer, MEP Isabel Santos, Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the Mashreq Countries and Rosamaria Gili, Head of Division Maghreb, EEAS.
Lebanon’s Pulse on Perceptions of Freedoms
Upon the assassination of Lebanese researcher and political activist Lokman Slim, many have questioned whether or not freedom of expression is guaranteed in Lebanon. In Arab Barometer’s first survey of Wave 6, Lebanon placed last among countries surveyed in perceptions of freedoms.