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March 06, 2005

Survey on Arab Views of America

I recently came across a 2003 survey on Arab public opinion toward the United States. Shibley Telhami (Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a senior fellow at the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution), prepared the survey for Zogby International, which interviewed 2,620 men and women in Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan. The study, “A View from the Arab World: A Survey in Five Countries”, was conducted between February 19 and March 11, 2003.

In a summary of the survey’s findings, Telhami reports:

On attitudes toward the U.S.
Very few people in the survey countries have a favorable opinion of the United States: Only 4% in Saudi Arabia, 6% in Morocco and Jordan, 13% in Egypt, and 32% in Lebanon.

Most people say that their attitudes toward the U.S. are based on American policies, not on American values.

On U.S. policy abroad
On the issue of U.S. policy in Iraq, an overwhelming percentage feel that American policy is motivated mainly by oil and secondarily by U.S. support for Israel. Specifically,97% of Saudis, 91% of Lebanese, 87% of Jordanians, 93% of Moroccans and 77% of Egyptians feel that oil is an extremely important issue in motivating U.S. policy toward Iraq. More than three-quarters of Saudis and Jordanians say Israel is an extremely important issue in determining U.S. policy in Iraq, followed by 72% of Moroccans and over 50% of Egyptians and Lebanese.

On the issue of U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli dispute, the majority feel that U.S. policy is motivated by support for Israel and oil. Nearly three-fourths of all respondents feel that both Israel and oil are extremely important factors in U.S. policy.

On leaders
Outside leaders admired most:
Jacques Chirac was often mentioned as one of the most admired leaders.

Figures (past/present) admired most:
Gamal Abdel-Nasser of Egypt, who died in 1970, ranked first in all five countries.
Nelson Mandela ranked second in most countries.

Click here to access the full report on Arab views of America.

Posted March 6, 2005 07:09 PM

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