DUBAI // Western opinion leaders believe the Arab Spring will transform politics and society in the Middle East, a poll released at the Arab Media Forum last night revealed.
The study, carried out by Apco Worldwide, the opinion research group of the Apco Global PR Consultancy, and completed early this month, polled 343 former and current diplomats, and other opinion leaders in the United States and Europe.
More than three quarters of those polled for An Arab Spring? Perceptions of Western Opinion Leaders believe the revolutions and uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Syria since the start of the year have helped to bring Arabs into the world community.
Of those polled, 47 per cent had received news about the uprisings through Arab media - and tended to have a positive view of the outcome as a result.
"This is the first study of its kind that has looked at how events in the Middle East are shaping the views of opinion leaders in the West," Mamoon Sbeih, Apco's Arab region managing director, said.
"It is clear that while there may be concern about who emerges in power, characterising events as an indictment of Arab society is not persuasive. The argument that Arabs are taking their place in the world community prevails by a large margin."
With the Arab Spring, Arab media succeeded in breaking through the Western misconception that Arabs were the "barbarians" sometimes portrayed in modern media, Joe Lauria, UN correspondent for TheWall Street Journal said during a panel discussion after the release of the report.
He said that images of woman and children protesting in Tahrir Square showed the West that Arabs "were not that different". He also said the presence of international media in Cairo meant that many more lives were saved.
However, an editor at Agence France-Presse, Jacques Charmelot, questioned the preoccupation with outside perceptions.
In the aftermath of the revolution that began in January, Egyptians were more concerned with their new government, finding jobs and gaining stability, he said.
The theme of this year's Arab Media Forum, sponsored by the Dubai Press Club, is Arab Media: Riding out the Storms of Change. Among those who attended the opening of the two-day event at the Grand Hyatt were the prime minister of Egypt, Dr Essam Sharaf. The forum concludes today.
zalhassani@thenational.ae
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Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
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7.10pm Al Khail Trophy – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 2,810m
7.45pm UAE 1000 Guineas – Listed (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
8.20pm Zabeel Turf – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 2,000m
8.55pm Downtown Dubai Cup – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 1,400m
9.30pm Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
10.05pm Dubai Sprint – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
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What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
