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AAI in the News

Arab citizens' support of U.S. wanes, poll says

By Gordon Trowbridge
Detroit News
Posted on Thursday December 14, 2006

WASHINGTON—The Arab public’s views of the U.S. have declined in the last year, in some countries dramatically, according to a series of surveys released Thursday by the Arab American Institute.

In countries such as Jordan and Morocco, citizens who had been lukewarm toward the United States are even more cool so now: Roughly a third of people in those two nations viewed this country favorably in 2005, but that fell to below 10 percent his year.

“There is no doubt American policy is the driving issue bringing these numbers down,” said James Zogby, the institute’s president.

Zogby said that while U.S. policies in the Middle East have been widely unpopular since the institute began polling in 2002, Arab publics are now also less likely to view U.S. culture and products favorably.

In a development potentially worrisome for Metro Detroit’s large Lebanese community, Zogby said the poll also showed a deepening split between Lebanese Christians, who are more likely to view U.S. policies and culture favorably, and Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims, who hold more negative views.

The surveys, conducted in November, surveyed 3,500 Arab adults in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.