POMED Notes: “Arab Youth Between Hope and Disillusionment”

Yesterday afternoon, the Brookings Institution hosted an event featuring Ahmed Younis, Senior Analyst at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Nonresident Guest Scholar at Brookings; and Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow at the Saban Center at Brookings. The discussion was moderated by Navtej Dhillon, Director of the Middle East Youth Initiative at the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings.

Ahmed Younis presented Gallup survey data from throughout the Muslim world on the
perspectives of Muslim youth on their job prospects, educational opportunity, general satisfaction, anti-Americanism, and optimism for the future. The panel discussed the U.S. political and strategic implications of this data. Tamara Wittes called for a commitment to sustaining our investments in the region, and a focus on spreading the highly respected U.S. education model. Djavad Salehi-Isfahani said we mustn’t focus on the “Great Game” of state-level diplomacy at the expense of the “Quiet Game” of improving the day-to-day lives of the population at the village level.

For POMED’s notes on the event, click here.