Majority of Arab youth support US disengagement in the Middle East
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The Arab Youth Survey 2023 reveals that the majority of Arab youth have expressed some level of support for US disengagement from the Middle East.
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Locals sit and chat by the ledge of a bridge leading to UNESCO-listed buildings in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen, February 15 2017. (AFP)
One-third of young Arabs believe that the United States holds the most influential power in their region, according to the Arab Youth Survey 2023 by The National.
However, a majority of them expressed a desire for this influence to change. The survey revealed that 33% of respondents viewed the US as the country with the most sway in the Arab world. The UAE followed with 11%, while Saudi Arabia took 10% of the responses, which is also the same amount that the Israeli entity received, as Russia registered 8%.
Interestingly, 61% of those polled expressed some level of support for the US disengaging from Middle Eastern affairs.
The survey was conducted before recent comments from a retired US Army general and former adviser to General Petraeus, Joel Rayburn.
"There's no viable alternative for Middle East countries to an alliance with the United States," Rayburn told The National.
He placed "the great bulk of the blame" on the US for countries in the Gulf seeking alternatives for support in resolving regional conflicts.
Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute and a columnist for The National said that the US's role in the region is "misunderstood" due to the work done by media outlets in the region.
"US support for Israel and a disinclination to pressure it on Palestinian rights dominates the image of the US in a highly negative manner among young Arabs."
Ibish believes that Gulf states should do more to highlight the US's presence in "a positive manner."
"All the GCC states have a partnership with the US at the core of their national security policies and security strategies.
"This is the reality but isn’t reflected in most of the Arab media, with rare exceptions. That gap between reality and perception is very damaging."
Earlier on June 3, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani revealed that Iran's navy and regional countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Iraq will establish a new naval coalition soon. This development comes after a successful Saudi Iranian rapprochement which began to grow after a Chinese-mediated deal was signed between the two parties on March 10.
The US has been angered by the news, as its supposed allies in the Gulf slowly move away from its sphere of influence towards the US's top enemy in the region, Iran.
"It defies reason that Iran, the number one cause of regional instability, claims it wants to form a naval security alliance to protect the very waters it threatens," US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces Spokesperson Commander Tim Hawkins said as quoted by Breaking Defense.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he claimed that Iran has "attacked or seized 15 internationally flagged merchant's vessels" over the past two years.
"Actions matter, which is why we are bolstering defense around the Strait of Hormuz with partners," said Hawkins.
