SAN FRANCISCO, July 15: One of the most unexpected outcome of the Iraq war is that more and more Arabs now identify themselves as Muslims first, a trend that poses difficult and long-term challenges for the US foreign policy
, according to a survey published here on Wednesday.
The survey was conducted in six Arab countries - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and the UAE - by Professor Shibley Telhami at the University of Maryland. The survey respondents believe that the war in Iraq has made the region even less democratic.
A possible and remarkable consequence of this perception is that most Arabs polled said that they wanted the clergy to play a bigger role in politics, Prof. Shibley said.
These results suggest that the desire for a greater role for clerics in regional politics is driven by two factors: the absence of alternative means to organize opposition to Arab governments, and the belief that clerics would be less susceptible to corruption in a region where rulers' corruption is a major issue, according to Prof. Shibley.
Whatever the reasons for many Arabs looking up to Muslim clerics to lead them, it's clear that this sentiment will enhance the influence of religious authority in the region, despite a widespread public recognition that the model of rule by clergy in Iran has been mostly a failure, he added.
The most popular leaders identified with an Islamic agenda were Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, and Osama bin Laden, the survey indicated.
