RIYADH — Arab youth consider Saudi Arabia their country’s biggest ally, highlighting their continued trust in the Kingdom, according to the findings of the 8th Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the Kingdom has won the confidence of Arab youth, according to the survey released on Tuesday.
The Kingdom is viewed particularly strongly by the youth in other Gulf states, where 93 percent consider it an ally.
Commenting on the survey findings, Sunil John, CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, said: “Saudi Arabia has long been a powerful player in the region, and young people throughout the Arab world recognize the key role the Kingdom plays in trying to ensure stability and security not just within its own borders but throughout the Middle East and North Africa.”
Arab youth also believe that the rise of Daesh (the so-called IS) remains the single biggest challenge facing the Middle East. They overwhelmingly reject the extremist group and believe it will fail, according to the survey.
Though concern is rising – with 50 percent of youth citing it as the biggest obstacle in the region, up from 37 percent last year – tacit support for the group is declining with just 13 percent agreeing they could see themselves supporting Daesh even if it did not use so much violence, compared with 19 percent in 2015.
For the fifth consecutive year, the United Arab Emirates was named as the country in which most Arab youth would like to live and the country they would most like their own nation to emulate, according to the findings of the survey.
The UAE is also viewed as a model country that is economically secure and is the most favored nation to set up a business in the Arab world.
When asked to think about the country they would most like to live in, nearly one in four (22 per cent) of young Arabs cite the UAE, ahead of the United States (15 per cent), Germany (11 per cent), Saudi Arabia (11 per cent) and Canada (10 per cent).
