A new regional study identifies Arab reactions to Western, and most specifically US, foreign policy in the region as being the single most important factor influencing Arab attitudes about ties with the West.
The study also shows that contrary to what some observers, particularly in the US, have suggested, Arabs do not see "the West" in entirely negative terms.
Conducted by the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan in collaboration with research centres in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and the Palestinian territories, the survey shows that respondents do not perceive "the West" as a unified whole. Rather, they differentiate substantially between countries, particularly on politics.
The Arab public views France much more positively than it does the United States and United Kingdom, primarily because there is a more positive perception of French political policies in the Middle East, the study shows.
Entitled "Revisiting the Arab Street: Research From Within," the study also reveals that the Arabs value many of the attitudes of Western states and societies.
"Significantly, and again in contrast to some popularly held Western views, Arab public opinion does not perceive the tension between the Arab world and the West in either religious or cultural terms. Despite views often expressed on Western talk shows or in popular books... there is little evidence that Arabs perceive the West as a Crusader force, intent on destroying the Islamic world in a battle over religious beliefs. Indeed, the Arab world sees the vast majority of Westerners, and those in the US in particular, as not strongly influenced by religious motives," an executive summary of the research states...
...According to the researchers, the evidence consistently emphasises that the Arab public disagrees with the foreign policies of the US and UK, and that it is these policies which are at the root of anti-American, and subsequently anti-Western, sentiments.
The survey targeted attitudes regarding the US, UK and France, as well as attitudes regarding the place of Islam in politics, the definition of terrorism, and the importance of Arab satellite TV in the formation of regional opinions.
"Findings indicate that viewing the Arab world as uniformly hostile towards the West, locked into an inevitable cultural clash, will lead policy makers in both East and West to miss important opportunities for improving relations. At the same time, such a simplification may also lead to underestimating the magnitude of the problem," according to the summary.
The study warns that positive attitudes towards the US and UK will continue to plummet unless major changes in their foreign policies are implemented. It points specifically to attitudinal data from youth, university students and national sample populations that suggests that a process of radicalisation is taking place in those sectors, fuelled by widespread economic and political frustration, both domestically and regionally.
I'm not surprised. All the talk about a "clash of civilizations" comes from Crusaders, who are comitting the common mistake of believing that everyone else thinks the way they do.
11:51:56 PM 
