The Scoop on the Arab Street: New Polls on Taboo Subjects

Daily news about the Iran deal, terrorist plots, Hamas gambits, or intra-Arab feuds often leaves observers wondering how any of this is playing on “the Arab street“ -- which, even under autocratic governments, can sometimes make or break Middle East policy. To offer unique hard data and insights about this factor, The Washington Institute is pleased to host a Policy Forum with David Pollock, Michele Dunne, and Ali Shihabi. Dr. Pollock, the Institute’s Kaufman Fellow and director of Project Fikra, will reveal the results of his new polls on hot issues in eight countries: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Most of these findings are unprecedented and unpublished, with counterintuitive implications that are highly policy relevant. He will be joined by two other leading experts in the field: Dr. Michele Dunne, director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Ali Shihabi, executive director of the Arabia Foundati