Arab young people are not drawn to jihadist propaganda, but they are disillusioned with the outcomes of the Arab Spring and are calling for greater rights.
They reject the Islamic State and are convinced it will fail in its objective of creating a new caliphate in the Middle East; they think religion plays too important a role in everyday life and that the war in Syria conceals a proxy conflict between world and regional powers: these are the young people of the Arab world captured by the Arab Youth Survey 2016. A study based on more than 3,500 interviews with young people aged 18 to 24 in 16 different countries in the region, it offers an interesting cross-section of the fears and aspirations of future Arab generations.
Published by global consultancy and public relations firm Asda'a Burson-Marsteller, the study is in its eighth edition. Five years after the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring, it shows that the young people surveyed prioritise stability over democratic aspirations (53 per cent), and that few of them (36 per cent) believe that living conditions in their respective countries have improved following the wave of revolutionary protests. A significant figure when compared with the 92 per cent who in 2011 had placed "living in a democracy" at the top of their wishes.
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For many, the lack of work remains a constant concern: the Middle East – according to World Bank data – has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, with more than 75 out of approximately 200 million young people in the region unemployed. According to those surveyed, it is the lack of opportunity and of a future, more than religious extremism, that provides Isis/Daesh with fertile ground for winning recruits. Among young people, fighters under the black banners enjoy the support of only 13% of respondents, 6% less than a year ago. Support that, in any case, would be given only "in the event that Isis renounced violence".
"This survey provides important data on how Arab youth view the environment in which they live as stimulating and constantly evolving," observes Donald A. Baer, president of Burson-Marsteller. "The young people surveyed today will be tomorrow's society, business owners, workers and consumers, and the findings of this research help all of us to better understand this cross-section of society." The survey involved young people from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, the West Bank, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Syria is absent from that list, yet on the conflict that has been ravaging the country for more than five years, those surveyed appear divided. The conflict currently under way, according to 39 per cent of them, conceals a proxy war between world and regional powers, while 29 per cent consider it a revolution against the regime of Bashar al-Assad and 22 per cent see it as a civil war between Syrians.
In Middle Eastern societies, as seen through the eyes of Arab youth, religion plays a role that is "too important" (52 per cent), while one or two in ten support the nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran that allowed Iran to emerge from an international isolation lasting more than 20 years. A final, significant figure concerns personal freedoms and human rights: 67 per cent of young people are calling on their leaders and governments to do more to improve standards and to act, above all, in favour of women's rights.
