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Arab Youth ‘Want Democracy’
The majority of Arab youths regard themselves as global citizens and want good relations with the international community, a new Middle East poll suggests.
The second annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey was conducted by the international polling firm Penn Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB) in October 2009 and notes a general high level of optimism among Arab youth with regards to the direction their countries are going.
“The main highlights are how optimistic youth are given the recession,” Robert Kellman, Middle East business director with PSB told The Media Line.
“An extremely high percentage of the Middle East population is under 15, and the mindset of the Arab youth is increasingly important and relevant to today,” he added. “There’s a lot of information in the survey that governments in the region and outside the region as well as corporations should be taking into account. It’s a sizeable group, and they will shape the future.”
Based on 2,000 face-to-face interviews with Arab youths aged 18-24 in nine Middle Eastern nations – Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon – the top priorities listed by the interviewees include living in a democracy, followed by good infrastructure and access to the best universities.
Interviewees ranked living in a democratic country as a top priority. However, Kellman stressed this did not imply they wanted a dismantling of current institutions and the creation of an American-style democracy.
“They have a traditional framework and they want to build on that,” he said. “Arab youths are prioritizing democratic institutions that encapsulate aspects of the Arab mindset.”
“They want democracy, but they want it here in the Arab world” Kellman continued. “For some, that might mean access to the powers that be. In this part of the world that type of institution does exist. It’s called the majlis system and it allows any citizens to appeal to their government, so perhaps they want increased opportunity to participate in that system. They’re highlighting a desired trend but it doesn’t mean they want a mass overhaul of the political framework.”
The biggest concern among Arab youth is the rising cost of living with two thirds testifying to being “very worried” about it.
The second greatest concern for young people in the Middle East is a shortage of affordable housing, followed by unemployment and a lack of voting rights.
Dr. Shafeeq Ghabra, professor of political science at Kuwait University and the founding president of the American University of Kuwait believes the younger generation in the region is currently straddling a fine line between two conflicting trends.
“On the one hand there’s a high dose of religion that mostly comes from the overall atmosphere in the GCC countries vis-à-vis state and religion,” he told The Media Line.
“At the same time, they’re connected to the world through the Internet, they’re exposed to things, to reading, to ideas and to exchanges that no one before them was exposed to at that level” Ghabra added. “It’s the power of the Internet and also the power of English – they are better users of English than any generation before them. Even graduates of the poorest schools are proficient in English because it’s the only way they can enjoy Facebook and the Internet.”
“They want to participate more, but at the same time they see they are different,” he continued. “They have a heavier dose of religion, which means a tendency to put limitations on individual rights and women’s rights. We have a generation that is at a crossing point and can go in either direction. It can go to further radicalization if the economic conditions are poor, if politics become centralized and there are no openings for democracy. But if the economy prospers, politics open up and the message of the political system is more open, if civil society flourishes then the youth can be vehicles for peaceful democratic transition.”
Kellman said the poll indicates an increasing recognition among Arab youth that the world is getting smaller through increased connectivity and a comparatively high access to technology.
The survey found that almost four in every five youths own a cell phone, one in four owns a web-enabled phone and almost two thirds have access to either a laptop computer or to a desk computer.
Almost three in five use the Internet at least once a day, with music and e-mail as the main online activities, and three quarters of those interviewed use social networking websites such as Facebook to keep in contact with their friends.
“They’re connected through the Internet to friends and family all around the world,” he said. “It’s an active type of connection and they’re actively seeking it out.”
The poll gauged attitudes of Arab youth towards other countries and found that young Arabs are generally looking East in response to the shifting global economy but look within the region for national support, with the exception of the United States, which especially in Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar is seen as their biggest ally.
Kellman dismissed concerns that the economic situation and a perception of the world as smaller would fuel a brain drain in the Middle East.
“A majority of Arab youth see their countries as heading in the right direction,” he said. “They’re proud to be Middle East citizens in their respective countries. They are connecting more on a global scale but it would be hard to say if they’re seeking opportunities elsewhere.”
Rachelle Kliger
The Media Line