A recent poll showed that Arab youth expect Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, to have a bigger impact on the Middle East in the coming decade than any other leader.
Young people across the Middle East also expressed great confidence in the Crown Prince, in addition to a belief in the inevitable defeat of ISIS and radicalism.
According to the 10th annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey 2018, young Arabs throughout the Middle East expressed a high level of confidence in the Crown Prince and his leadership, with 63 percent supporting his appointment, 64 percent viewing him as a strong leader, and 59 percent saying he will lead Saudi Arabia in the right direction.
Support for the Crown Prince among Saudi youth is overwhelming, with 91 percent supporting his appointment, 97 percent considering him a strong leader and 90 percent saying he will move the Kingdom in the right direction.
The Arab world is optimistic about the role of Prince Mohammed, said UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Director General Reem Al Hashemi.
She pointed out that many of the Arab youth expressed their desire to fight corruption in the Arab world and to live a decent life.
Prince Mohammed plays a major role in the fight against corruption, she added.
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller conducts a comprehensive survey of youth in the Arab world on an annual basis.
This is the tenth edition of this survey, which takes the views and attitudes of Arab youth in 16 Arab countries. It conducted 3,500 personal interviews between January 21 and February 20, 2018, with young men and women belonging to the 18-24 age group.
According to the survey, which was revealed at a conference in Dubai, Arab youth believe the past decade, which has been dominated by so-called Arab Spring uprisings and ISIS atrocities, steered the Middle East away from its normal course. Action must be taken to bring it back on track.
The poll added that Arab youth believe that the action needed to counter radical ideology lies in addressing unemployment, education and counter-corruption and anti-terrorism fields.
The results of the poll also show that Arab youth are confident that an inevitable defeat awaits ISIS ideology.
As Arab youth increasingly rely on social media for news, they consider CNN the most credible source and al-Jazeera as the most misleading.
Asked about Vision 2030, the Saudi-led road map to diversify its economy, 92 percent of Saudi youth said they were confident the plan would succeed in securing the future of the Kingdom’s economy.
