For international security, the year 2017 was marked – among others – by signs of a continued erosion of the so-called liberal international order and an increasingly unpredictable US foreign policy. Tensions in many parts of the world have been growing: the rhetoric between the US and North Korea has escalated, the rift in the Gulf has become deeper, not…
Religion
Who Benefits from Consociationalism? Religious Disparities in Lebanon’s Political System
This study examines the extent to which confessional identities in Lebanon are responsible for shaping individual views toward their government. Specifically, I investigate disparities between religious groups in their perceptions of democracy and democratic principles as applied in Lebanon. Using nationally representative data from the Arab Barometer’s survey of Lebanon, I find that when compared to Maronite Catholics, Druze, and…
Is EGYPT becoming a SECULAR country?
With over 95 million inhabitants, Egypt is the biggest country in the Arab world. In 2011, thousands of people protested for days to overthrow HOSNI MUBARAK, the dictator who ruled the country back then. A year later, the Muslim Brotherhood gained power, ready to turn the country of the pyramids into an Islamist Republic. But now, in 2017, Egyptian politics…
Kroonprins Salman heeft hele veiligheidsapparaat van Saudi-Arabië stevig in handen
“Een deel van de Arabische wereld streeft naar meer religieuze vrijheid. Maar dat is nog geen politieke vrijheid. Als de opiniepeilers van Arab Barometer het bij het rechte eind hebben, is de Arabische wereld in beweging. Onderzoek leert dat de rol van religie in een goed deel van de regio afneemt. De steun voor de invoering van de islamitische wet,…
L’Algérie célèbre l’anniversaire de sa Révolution, entre fierté et défis
…Selon une étude réalisée par l’Arab Barometer, le point de vue des Algérien(ne)s sur les questions sociales et religieuses évoluerait en effet plutôt vers un conservatisme plus marqué. L’étude révèle en effet que pour la majorité des répondants, l’enseignement universitaire est plus important pour les garçons que pour les filles, tandis que les femmes mariées ne devraient pas travailler à…
Youth, Religion and Democracy After the Arab Uprisings: Evidence from the Arab Barometer
This article compares the changes over time in attitudes of youth in Egypt and Tunisia, two countries that experienced dramatic political changes in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings. The primary comparison is the change in attitudes over time within each country; views of youths just after the respective revolutions are compared with views of a similar cohort two years…
Social Distance in Iraq and Lebanon
Research has found that tensions, conflicts, and wars worsen the views groups hold towards each other and, plausibly, increase social distance (Parks 1924; Bogardus 1925; Owen et al. 1981; Siber 1997; Parrillo and Donoghue 2005; Oswald 2005; Strabac 2016). Since the twentieth century the Middle East is caught up in interlocking pattern of crises, conflicts, wars, and terrorism. Almost every…