This survey represents the detailed views of 105 experts from almost every Arab country. Questions were asked in both English and Arabic, and respondents include include civil society leaders and activists, industry leaders, scholars, former cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, and advisers to heads of state. Some emerged during the Arab Awakening; others have decades of experience.
This survey is qualitative rather than quantitative in nature. The experts were not randomly selected, and the results are not necessarily representative of the broader Arab public. But as voices that might press for and lead efforts for change and reform, they provide considerable insight into the Middle East’s policy dilemmas. The experts’ views are complex and often contradictory, but three themes stand out:
- Government Legitimacy: Five years after the Arab Spring, the crisis of legitimacy that helped precipitate it has lost neither its resonance nor its urgency. The experts are almost unanimous in their extreme dissatisfaction with their governments’ responses to the many challenges they face. They criticise government authoritarianism and militarism, as well as corruption, cronyism, and external interference.
- Prioritization of Local Concerns: Media accounts of the Middle East, in Western and Arab press alike, focus on the region’s acute crises, such as the military campaign against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the conflict in Yemen, and the Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry. While no consensus arises from the experts on the underlying causes of turmoil in the region and in their countries, a striking prioritization of challenges closer to home emerges, on issues such as authoritarianism, corruption, and the lack of accountability.
- Democratic Prospects: The experts generally view democratic governance not as an end in itself but as an instrument for improving accountability and addressing corruption. Although they overwhelmingly support representative democracy, the experts tend to distinguish between democratic institutions and those bodies’ more superficial trappings. They express considerable discontent with the lost opportunities resulting from governance failures, and they see direct linkages between the lack of political pluralism and the rise of extremist waves confronting the Middle East.
The report includes the complete text of the questionnaire as well as a numerical breakdown of responses, alongside the authors’ analysis.