They resent America but are hopeful that President Barack Obama will change the polices that foster so much hatred for the United States in the Middle East.
Their negative view of the superpower would improve if US troops withdrew from Iraq quickly and there was an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
And, perhaps remarkably, the majority of Arabs seem to be prepared to make peace with Israel even after the Jewish state's sustained assault on Gaza in December.
These are some of the results of a wide-ranging public opinion survey of 4,087 Arabs in six countries, conducted by the University of Maryland with Zogby International, a polling company.
It comes as Mr Obama has reached across the chasm that divides America from many Muslims with a historic speech in Cairo on Thursday that was watched by hundreds of millions of people around the region.
From the spit and sawdust shisha cafes of Egypt to the razed streets of Gaza, from the glittering majlis of the Gulf states and beyond, every one of his 5,834 words was examined for clues as to how America would behave in the future and if Mr Obama would show them respect.
If America is willing to end the "cycle of suspicion and discord", as Mr Obama put it, then the results of the annual Arab Public Opinion survey, which was completed in early May, suggest that most Arabs are not as blindly anti-American as some perhaps would like to believe.
Beyond the rhetoric, people are now waiting for Mr Obama to make good on his words with concrete action.
Indeed, if Mr Obama is trying to find out how to improve America's standing in the region, he might be well advised to look at the results of the survey, conducted in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Although 46 per cent described their view of the US as unfavourable, it is a considerable improvement from last year when 64 per cent had a negative perception of America.
The change is due to Mr Obama himself, who was seen as positive by 45 per cent of respondents.
"We are not at a point with the US where there is dramatic and rising expectations but there is a sense there could be change," said John Zogby, the president of Zogby International. "The persona of this man, Obama, may be radically different from [his predecessor George W] Bush but there is some reticence. Arabs may not wish to put too much emotional investment in Obama."
The poll also revealed that 73 per cent were prepared for peace with Israel if the Jewish state were willing to return territories captured in the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as their future capital.
"There is a growing recognition that Israel does exist and hardened attitudes are not a path to peace," said Mr Zogby.
Some believe their governments should work to promote such a peace but 45 per cent do not believe Israel will give up the occupied territories of the West Bank easily.
Those suspicions were confirmed for many Jordanians this past week. There was outrage in the kingdom after 53 right-wing members of Israel's 120-member Knesset put forward a proposal for Jordan officially to become the homeland of the Palestinians - without bothering to ask the Jordanians.
The idea is old but hugely controversial in Jordan, which has absorbed millions of Palestinian refugees over the decades.
Although Israeli officials have said the proposal does not represent the government's position - President Shimon Peres called it a "baseless hallucination" - it did little to quell the anger.
"This is chutzpah actually," said Mustafa Hamarneh, the chairman of the weekly publication Al Sijill, in Amman. "They took the land of one people and want to take other people's land as well. They created the Palestinian problem and they should solve it."
He continued: "Many of us support the peace initiative with Israel providing there is movement on the Palestinian state. We were willing to compromise and then these outrageous statements come. "
What is particularly galling for Jordan is that last month, King Abdullah called for a Washington-backed proposed peace plan, a "57-state solution" which would draw in every Muslim-majority country to recognise Israel.
"That is a very strong statement when we are offering a third of the world to meet them with open arms," he said recently.
In the Arab Public Opinion poll, 41 per cent said an Israeli-Palestinian agreement would improve their view of the US.
However, half of the respondents thought the most important factor driving American policy in the region was protecting Israel. Next was oil. The Israelis may not agree.
They are worried about a rift with Mr Obama, who has called on Israel to halt all settlement construction in the West Bank. Israel has refused, and on Thursday an Israeli newspaper carried a caricature of Mr Obama wearing a keffiyah headscarf to illustrate a perceived Arab bias.
That fear of attack is uppermost in the minds of many Israelis was apparent as the country launched its largest-ever nationwide emergency drill in case of invasion.
The wail of 2,000 air raid sirens began at 11am on Tuesday as citizens dashed to take cover in bomb shelters and schoolchildren dived under their desks.
The screech of the sirens could be heard in the southern villages of Lebanon near the Israeli border and where a parliamentary election campaign is in the final stretch.
Tomorrow the Lebanese go to the polls to vote for a 128-member parliament in which seats are divided equally among Christians and Muslims.
Appealing to the vanity of the Lebanese, the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party, put up billboards that read: "Be beautiful and vote".
"All politics are local and it's about local issues, personalities, parties," said Abdallah Bouhabib, a former Lebanese ambassador to America, in an interview from Beirut.
"A lot of Arabs are watching us through the papers, the media. People are interested because it is the only democracy around here."
There may be a lot of interest in the Lebanese election, yet according to the opinion poll only about two per cent cited democracy as central to their assessment of the Obama administration.
"I'm not surprised by that. Why? A lot of Arabs talk about democracy and read about it, but they don't want it at the hands of foreigners. They don't want it at any cost or by the US," said Mr Bouhabib.
Instead, the most important issue for many Arabs is Iraq and half of the respondents want US troops to leave quickly.
Early on Monday morning, a bomb exploded near the front gate of a vegetable market in southern Baghdad, killing four. Many believe the violence will end only when America leaves: 65 per cent were optimistic that if US forces were out by 2011, Iraqis would patch up their differences.
On Iran, the picture was more complicated.
"There is no Sunni and Shiite lovefest but there is a sense that Iran has stood up to the United States," said Mr Zogby.
Although 53 per cent said they believed Iran had the right to nuclear weapons, a small but growing number considered the Islamic republic a danger. The survey showed that 13 per cent felt Iran was a threat to them, compared with seven per cent in 2008.
"It threatens our country," said Ayesha al Hammadi, 21, a student at Zayed University, in Abu Dhabi. "If there is a war between America and Iran our country would be affected. There will be foreign bases in our country and also Iran might want to have a war with us if we help another country."
But Ayesha al Qubaisi, 22, a librarian, disagreed.
"Each country has its own decisions," she said. "If someone attacks my home, I have the right to defend myself."
Significantly, 78 per cent of the respondents in the study said their negative perception of America was based on its foreign policy, not its values.
In the UAE, where many young people have received an education in the US, that sentiment was not a contradiction at all.
"I studied English for two months in Houston, in Texas," said Miss al Hammadi. "People were very nice, there was no problem. They were not bad like some Arabs say. I learnt a lot in America. There is a difference between its people and the government."
hghafour@thenational.ae
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
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Seasons 2003/04 - 2008/09
Appearances 230
Goals 115
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Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
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Spare
Profile
Company name: Spare
Started: March 2018
Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes and Saurabh Shah
Based: UAE
Sector: FinTech
Investment: Own savings. Going for first round of fund-raising in March 2019
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
AGL AWARDS
Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)
Men's football draw
Group A: UAE, Spain, South Africa, Jamaica
Group B: Bangladesh, Serbia, Korea
Group C: Bharat, Denmark, Kenya, USA
Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)
match info
Maratha Arabians 138-2
C Lynn 91*, A Lyth 20, B Laughlin 1-15
Team Abu Dhabi 114-3
L Wright 40*, L Malinga 0-13, M McClenaghan 1-17
Maratha Arabians won by 24 runs
