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To ignore this poll is to do so at one's own peril

The world would do well to read and absorb the results of this poll as reported in Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies:

"The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) recently published the Arab Opinion Index report for 2011. The Arab Opinion Index project is currently the largest of its kind. It covers 12 countries, representing 85 percent of the population of the Arab world. The Index compiles the findings of 16,173 face-to-face interviews with subjects who were drawn from a random, representative sampling of the populations of their countries of origin. An estimated 35,000 human work-hours were spent completing the surveys which will contribute to the final, detailed statistical report.

The questionnaire was prepared in 2010 and the survey was conducted in the first half of 2011. Given the changes then unfolding in Arab countries, the questionnaire was amended to include questions regarding both the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions*; survey respondents in Yemen were further questioned about their views on the revolution in that country."

***

"Some of the more important highlights of the survey that are included in the preliminary report are:

  Answers show that a clear majority of Arabs support a democratic form of government, believing in the importance of a transfer of power.


  Most respondents describe themselves as religious, while rejecting clerical influence in politics.


  71 percent of respondents expressed faith in their countries’ armies; 47 percent trust their governments (the executive arms of), and 36 percent showed trust in their countries’ legislative bodies before the revolutions.


  83 percent of respondents say that corruption is widespread in their countries.


  Only 19 percent of respondents believe that their countries’ legal systems treat all citizens equitably.


  73 percent of respondents believe that Israel and the US are the two countries presenting the largest threat to the security of the Arab world, with 51 percent believing that Israel is the most threatening, 22 percent believe the US is the most threatening, and 5 percent reporting a belief that Iran is the single country most threatening to the security of their countries. The results on this question vary from one Arab country to another.


  84 percent believe the Palestinian cause to be a cause for all Arabs, and not solely a Palestinian issue.


  67 percent of respondents believe that present levels of intra-Arab cooperation are not satisfactory"


 

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