Widespread Support for Arab Spring Protests: Global Poll

Backgrounder: Region-by-Region Results

North America

Americans are quite upbeat about the popular upheavals across the Middle East this year. Sixty-four per cent think these events are mostly positive, nine points above the global average of 55 per cent.

Latin America

In Latin America, perceptions of the popular uprisings are positive overall. In each of the six countries surveyed in the region, there is either a large plurality or a majority of respondents who think the upheavals are mostly positive.
Panama is the country where the highest proportion welcomes the protests (59%), followed by Brazil (54%), and Chile (51%). But the most positive balance of support in Latin America is in Chile (+39%), with only 12 per cent saying they consider the protests to be mostly negative. Opinions in Mexico and in Peru are more muted, with pluralities of 49 and 40 per cent respectively who say that the popular movements in the Arab world are mostly positive.
Forty-seven per cent of Ecuadorians are of the same opinion, but with 42 per cent who think the protests are mostly negative (second highest proportion in the survey), they have the least favourable balance of support in Latin America, just narrowly positive (+5)—the second lowest balance figure seen in the survey, along with Pakistan.

Europe

In Europe, all surveyed countries except Russia are strong supporters of the Arab Spring protests. Support is particularly high among the EU nations. The Germans and the French are the most favourable, with 78 and 76 per cent respectively who think that these events are mostly positive—the highest and second highest proportions in the survey—well above the 22-country global average of 55 per cent.
Public opinion in Spain and in the UK is also very supportive of the events in the Middle East. Seventy per cent of Spaniards, and two-thirds of British (67%), perceive the protests as being mostly positive.
Support in Turkey is not as strong, but there is still a majority of 55 per cent of Turks who say that the popular uprisings are mostly positive—an identical proportion to the global average.
Russia is the only country where public opinion is not favourable to the protests. Only 31 per cent of Russians view them as being mostly positive (lowest percentage in the survey), while a plurality of 43 per cent perceives them as mostly negative (highest percentage in the survey). As a result, the balance of support in Russia is negative (-12), unique among the countries surveyed.

Africa

In Africa, there is a widespread support for the Arab Spring protests in three out of the four countries surveyed. Egyptians are the most favourable, with 72 per cent who think that the popular uprisings are mostly positive—the third highest percentage in the survey after Germany and France.
Public opinion in Nigeria and Kenya is also very supportive, with 67 and 65 per cent respectively who view the protests as being mostly positive, significantly above the 55 per cent global average.
Ghana contrasts with the other African countries surveyed in offering much more muted support for the protests. A plurality of 48 per cent of Ghanaians perceives the popular movements to be mostly positive, while 37 per cent see them as mostly negative, making the balance of support positive by only 11 points.

Asia

In Asia, support for the Arab Spring is less vocal than in the other regions. The Philippines and China are the Asian countries with the highest proportions who perceive the protests to be mostly positive (51% and 50%, respectively). However, Filipinos’ support is quite muted, as 41 per cent of the population view the protests as mostly negative (the third highest percentage in the survey). Just 27 per cent of Chinese respondents have negative views, which makes the Chinese the most favourable Asian country toward the Arab Spring events, with their balance of support at +23 points.
In Indonesia, a plurality of 46 per cent thinks that the popular upheavals are mostly favourable, while a third of the population (33%) leans the other way.
Indians’ and Pakistanis’ support for the protests in the Middle East is among the lowest in the survey. In these two countries, just four in ten respondents view the protests as being mostly positive (41% in India, 40% in Pakistan). The balance of support in India is positive by only 11 points, and is narrowly positive in Pakistan (+5).

Methodology

In total 21,558 citizens in Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States were interviewed face-to-face or by telephone between July 3, 2011 and September 16, 2011. Polling was conducted for BBC World Service by GlobeScan and its research partners in each country.
In Brazil, China, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Panama, the Philippines, and Turkey urban samples were used. The margin of error per country ranges from +/- 2.0 to 4.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
 

1. In Brazil the survey was conducted in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba, Goiânia, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo, representing 18 per cent of the national population.
2. In China the survey was conducted in Beijing, Beiliu, Chengdu, Dujiangyan, Fenyang, Fuyang, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Manzhouli, Quanzhou, Qujing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shuangcheng, Wuhan, Xi’an, Xining, and Zhengzhou, representing 45 per cent of the national adult population.
3. In Ecuador the survey was conducted in Cuenca, Guayaquil and Quito, representing 52 per cent of the urban population.
4. In Egypt the survey was conducted in Alexandria, Cairo, Giza, and Shubra El-Kheima, representing 24 per cent of the national population.
5. In Indonesia the survey was conducted in Bandung, Jakarta, Makassar, Medan, and Surabaya, representing 27 per cent of the national adult population.
6. In Panama the survey was conducted in Panamá, Chiriquí, Colón, Coclé, Veraguas, Herrera, Bocas del Toro and Los Santos, representing 70 per cent of the adult population.
7. In the Philippines the survey was conducted in the National Capital Region, representing 27 per cent of the urban adult population.
8. In Turkey the survey was conducted in Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya, Samsun, and Zonguldak, representing 56 per cent of the national adult population.

Research Partners