Arab attitudes towards US in 2005 - good news and bad news

by James J. Zogby

Arab attitudes towards the United States have somewhat improved in the past year. Having plummeted to a dangerous low point in mid-2004, favourable ratings of the US are now back to their still low, but better, 2002 level.

This was one finding from a six-nation poll conducted during October of 2005 by the Zogby International (ZI), commissioned by the Arab American Institute (AAI). The AAI/ZI poll surveyed over 3,600 Arabs in Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Jordan.

What the AAI/ZI study shows is that about one third of Moroccans, Jordanians, Lebanese and Arabs in the United Arab Emirates now have favourable attitudes vis-?-vis America. Only in Saudi Arabia and Egypt do positive attitudes remain in the low range (Saudi Arabia 9 per cent and Egypt 14 per cent). But in all six countries surveyed, favourable ratings are up from 2004 and at the levels they were in 2002.

That's the good news. There's bad news as well. When the ratings given to the US are compared to those given to the other three countries covered in the poll (China, Russia and India), the US comes in last place, with China scoring significantly higher in most of the six Arab countries surveyed.

Additionally, it appears that the favourable attitudes towards the US are quite soft, while negative attitudes appear to have hardened. In response to a separate question, those with negative attitudes towards the US report that those attitudes actually worsened in the past year. On the other hand, in response to this same question, most of those who now report having a favourable view of the US do not indicate feeling better about the US during the past year.

As in earlier polls, it is clear that it is American policy in the region which drives the negative attitude. When respondents were asked to identify the issues that most shaped their attitudes towards the US, major factors they identified were the war in Iraq (the number one issue in all six countries) and American treatment of Arab and Muslims (the number two concern in all six countries).

On the other hand, the Bush administration's advocacy of democracy, the cornerstone of their policy towards the Middle East, appears to have resonated only among Christian Lebanese, who are the only sub-group to give the US an overall positive rating (57 per cent favourable-39 per cent unfavourable). Lebanese Muslims, Sunni and Shiite combined, give the US a strong negative rating of 14 per cent favourable versus 80 per cent unfavourable.

In Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two countries which have been targeted for attention by US democracy initiatives, this advocacy won little support. In Egypt, for example, only 4 per cent indicated that the "Bush administration's promotion of democracy determined their attitudes towards the US", with most of them reporting that this effort soured their attitude towards the US.

In Saudi Arabia, of the 9 per cent who were impacted by the administration's advocacy for democratic reform, only one-third said they reacted positively to this US effort. In other words, most Egyptians and Saudis appear to have reacted negatively to what they appear to perceive as improper meddling in their internal affairs. This result echoes another finding from our 2004 poll which shows that most Arabs did not want US involvement in their domestic politics.

The clear and sizeable lesson emerging from this 2005 AAI/ZI Arab survey is that attitudes towards the US, though better, remain troubled and shaped by US policies that negatively impact the region. The promotion of democracy and reform, while appealing to some small groups, continues to be trumped by the war in Iraq and the more general perceptions of America's poor treatment of Arabs and Muslims.

__________________________________________

This article was published in the Tuesday, November 8, 2005 edition of the Jordan Times. It is used here with permission.