August 11th, 2010 by Jennifer

Barry Rubin writing at the blog for the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center argues that the data in the recently released 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll reveal “the realities of the Arabic-speaking world: the hegemony of radicalism among the masses, passionate hatred for Israel and the West, and lack of sympathy for democracy or liberalism.” Noting that participants in the survey registered high approval ratings for the Turkish and Iranian premiers, but not for any moderate Arab leaders, Rubin points to “a decline in Arab nationalism that would have been unthinkable during the 1950-2000 era.” He goes on to harshly criticize the poll’s conductors at Brookings, who he said attempted to spin the study’s results to suggest that the Obama administration’s overly “friendly” stance toward Israel was the primary cause of negative sentiment toward the U.S. He says that this conclusion is untenable, arguing that the real problems faced by the Arab world are not Israel, but the “failure of Arab statist dictatorships and Arab nationalist ideology”; a “stifling traditional culture that clashes with modernity”; and “internal group conflicts,” among other challenges. According to Rubin, the U.S. cannot change trends in Arab public opinion by distancing itself from Israel, achieving a two-state solution, or practicing engagement and “appeasement,” since “the only solution is internal and it will take decades at best.” Instead, he urges the West to “defend itself, help the most relatively moderate forces (both governments and mass opposition movements as in Lebanon and Iran), and stand up for its own values.”

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