The Arab Revolutions: Five Years On

Abstract

This paper presents Arab public attitudes towards the popular revolutions which arose in 2011. The results, adapted from a series of Arab public opinion surveys conducted in a number of countries over several years, show that 34% of the Arab public view positively the Arab popular revolutions and the accomplishments achieved by the revolutions (either “very positive” or “positive to some extent”). This contrasts with 59% of the public which had varyingly negative (either “negative to some extent” or “very negative”) views of the Arab revolutions and the changes they brought. Only 7% of respondents declined to offer an opinion. Notably, only 10% of respondents offered the view that the revolutions and their outcomes were “very positive”, compared to 34% who held that they were “very negative”.