| The number of Arab Youth- that is people who are 24 years or under - is about 200 million. The aim of opening education institutions in Dubai Media City, and elsewhere was to ensure that the youth were well educated.
Asdaa BCW's 2020 Arab Youth Survey shows how Arab youth see their future. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a favoured destination. Here is a view of the survey's findings. by Al Monitor Despite the prevalence of
war, protest, pandemic and economic crisis, Arab youth, defined as aged
18-24, have embraced realism, not ideology, in their view of the
region, according to Asdaa BCW's 2020 survey. As Afshin Molavi writes in
the report, if there is an "-ism" in play here, it's
pragmatism. There is no traction among youth for grandiose schemes of
Arab nationalism, Islamism, nonalignment or socialism, as may have
been the case decades ago.
The watchwords are instead
jobs and anti-corruption, and the hope of a better future: good
governance, simply put. And when asked which state is
getting it right, the answer, overwhelmingly, is the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
while among outsiders, the standing of the United States, while gaining
ground, still trails China and Russia in the hearts and minds of Arab
youth.
Taking it to the streets
The oldest of the Arab youth
cohort would have been born in 1996. This means they missed the
Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, the Egyptian and Jordanian peace
agreements with Israel, the first Palestinian intifada, and the Lebanese
and Algerian civil wars, and probably have only the vaguest memories, if
any at all, of Saddam Hussein's tyranny in Iraq and his overthrow in 2003
or the second intifada, to name just a few of the seminal events that
shaped the region.
This cohort's formative
memories are instead of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, the wars in
Syria, Yemen and Libya, the coronavirus pandemic, and governing elites who
seem to be doing more than fine themselves and stay in power for really
long periods of time, but are unable to provide jobs, pick up the trash or
keep the electricity running for the citizens they supposedly serve. The social safety net in Arab
states has too many holes, compounded these days by low oil prices and
COVID-19, making a bad and volatile situation that much worse. A report from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month found that
while Middle Eastern states may be spending more on education, health and
social services, the inefficiency of state institutions has contributed to
a lag in progress relative to other regions. For its youth, the overall
experience of the Arab state has been a flop. The "isms" and causes of
previous generations don't resonate and therefore can't provide an excuse,
or distraction, for the failures of leadership. The sorry state of the Arab
state has sparked an expansive and brave activism among youth that is not
limited to social media, although it's there, too. More tellingly, this
generation, which grew up on the Arab Spring, takes its message to the
streets, and is not letting up, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as Azhar al-Ruabie reports
from Iraq. The protests in Iraq, Sudan,
Lebanon and Algeria have widespread support (between 82-89%) among the Arab
youth in those countries. The survey found that 86% of youth in Libya,
and 56% in Yemen and Tunisia, don't rule out protests in their countries to
drive change. In Sudan, many of the key
parties signed the Juba agreement this week, hoping to bring years of
conflict and instability to a close, as Baher al-Kady reports, and Iraq now
has a prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who is moving carefully on a
program of reform in response to the protests.
Arab youth also
overwhelmingly believe in gender equality and the place of women as equal
to men in the work force. Nonetheless, as Mina Al-Oraibi points out,
institutional barriers still need to be broken down, and COVID-19, at least
in the short term, has disproportionately affected women.
Losing their religion? Yes
and no
Religion is still a
cornerstone of identity for Arab youth, especially in North Africa, but the
overall trend is away from religiosity and religious institutions, as Ali Mamouri has written
in his coverage of Iraq.
The survey says 40% of Arab
youth cite religion as central to their identity, with 19% listing tribe,
17% nationality and 7% Arab heritage.
The ratio for religion is
much higher in North Africa (61%) than in the Levant (29%) and the Gulf
(27%), and most youth believe religion plays too big a role in the lives of
the region and that religious institutions need reform.
An entrepreneurial and
digital future
The message of the protests
carried by Arab youth convey optimism. They want change, but the
demands are rooted in realism, not ideology. This is a trend toward
good governance, jobs and a future involving a larger role for the
private sector. The survey indicates an increased interest in
entrepreneurism and the digital economy. A separate IMF report
last month discussed how digital solutions can advance small business in
the region.
UAE's soft power leadership
The UAE is again the most
popular country among Arab youth, with 46% saying that's where they want to
live, compared with 33% listing the United States as their preferred
destination. The UAE gets the nod for job opportunities,
safety and salaries. The survey took place before
the UAE normalized ties with Israel, but the guess here is that that
decision is unlikely to dent the positive perception of the Emirates among
youth. The Palestinian issue still holds sway in Egypt,
Jordan and Lebanon as a top foreign policy priority, not so in the
Gulf, where concerns about Iran dominate, according to polling by
David Pollack of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy last
year.
US makes up some ground
against Russia and China. The United States (56%) still
trails China (73%) and Russia (71%) as a perceived "ally" by
Arab youth, but it has gained ground from a low of 35% in 2018.
The United States is
nonetheless considered as the most influential outside power in the region
(at 46%) over Turkey (20%), Russia (16%) and Iran (14%). China doesn't even register
in influence, although it ranks second to the UAE (21% and 20%) in
leadership in dealing with COVID. The United States comes in at
6%. A revolution rooted in
governance, not ideology
Given the numerous religions in the
region, the attitudes of Arab youth are cause for optimism. Another
clear finding is that the UAE and the Gulf increasingly reflect the model
of secure and entrepreneurial states that capture the imagination of the
region's youth for a better future. There is no ideological cast
to the demands of young people for an end to corruption and a better
economic future. Arab young people and all other citizens deserve
a break from the decades of mismanagement that have left the Arab state in
disrepair. For the full report go to: https://www.arabyouthsurvey.com /pdf/downloadwhitepaper/AYS%202020-WP_ENG_0510_Single-Final.pdf
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