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Research & Polling

It’s one thing to get the views of the local audience at each Debate, but the Doha Debates are also keen to find out what the rest of the Arab world thinks about the issues we raise.

To that end YouGov, a research and polling company, has been commissioned to seek the views of thousands of people across the region after each of the debates.

In the Gulf, the Levant, North Africa and Iraq respondents have been expressing a broad range of opinions, widening and enriching the debate on some of the most controversial political questions of the day.

• 
  21 May 2012
  This House believes censorship makes a mockery of the arts
  MOTION PASSED
  

   

  Six out of ten Arabs believe governments have to censor the arts especially "nudity" and "offensive language" before it goes public, according to the latest Doha Debates poll.

   

  Full report
• 
  30 Apr 2012
  This House believes Arab governments need to take urgent measures to protect religious minorities
  MOTION PASSED
  

  A majority of young Arabs, mostly from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), believe governments need to move swiftly to protect religious minorities through promoting co-existence among citizens, according to the latest Doha Debates opinion poll.

  Full report
• 
  19 Mar 2012
  This House believes marriage between close family members should be discouraged
  MOTION PASSED
  

  A majority of Arabs believe that inter-marriages between blood relatives should be discouraged and want their governments to educate the public about possible health risks linked to such marriages, according to the latest Doha Debates opinion poll.

  Full report
• 
  27 Feb 2012
  This House believes women will be worse off after the Arab revolutions
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  A majority of Arabs believe women will be better off in post-revolutionary states where political Islam is on the rise, according to the latest Doha Debates opinion poll.

  Full report
• 
  12 Jan 2012
  This House believes Turkey is a bad model for the new Arab states
  MOTION PASSED
  

  A majority of people in the Arab world believe the post-revolutionary states in the region should model their political systems on Turkey's, according to the latest opinion poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  12 Dec 2011
  This House has no confidence in Bahrain's promise to reform
  MOTION PASSED
  

  A majority of Arabs claim to have confidence in Bahrain's government to carry out promised reforms in the wake of protests in the Gulf Kingdom in 2011.

  Full report
• 
  27 Nov 2011
  This House believes President Assad must resign
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Although the majority of Arabs believe Syria's President Basher al-Assad should resign in the wake of the regime's brutal treatment of protesters, fewer Syrians are supportive of an immediate leadership change.

  Full report
• 
  26 Oct 2011
  This House believes the Egyptian military is not interested in genuine reform
  MOTION PASSED
  

  According to the findings of the latest Doha Debates opinion poll, two out of three people believe the Egyptian military is interested in genuine reform.

  Full report
• 
  30 May 2011
  This House believes resistance to the Arab Spring is futile
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar. June 22, 2011: A growing number of Gulf Arabs are frightened and pessimistic about the "Arab Spring", according to an opinion poll, commissioned by The Doha Debates. 

  Full report
• 
  18 Apr 2011
  This House believes Arabs, not NATO, should be dealing with Libya
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  A staggering 75 percent of Arabs want to see the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi forcibly removed from power, according to an opinion poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  14 Mar 2011
  This House believes for the sake of democracy Egypt should postpone elections
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Two months after overthrowing President Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians believe they are well on the way to democracy, according to a wide-ranging opinion poll, commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  22 Feb 2011
  This House believes that Arab revolutions will just produce different dictators
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar. 22 March 2011: Nearly 80 percent of Arabs believe that Libya's Colonel Gaddafi will be the next leader to be ousted by popular uprising, according to the latest survey carried out by The Doha Debates and YouGov.

  Full report
• 
  24 Jan 2011
  This House believes the world is better off with Wikileaks
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar 15 February 2011: Six out of ten Arabs believe that the world is better off with Wikileaks and nearly three quarters would like to see the whistle-blowing website publish more on the Arab world.

  Full report
• 
  06 Dec 2010
  This House believes education is worthless without freedom of speech
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar 17 January 2011: More than 80 percent of Arabs believe that education is worthless without freedom of speech, according to a recent poll conducted by YouGov and The Doha Debates, a forum for free speech in Qatar.

  Full report
• 
  10 Nov 2010
  This House would prefer money to free elections
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar January 5, 2011: A large majority of Arabs have told an opinion poll they would prefer to live in a democratic state, rather than an autocracy that allowed them to get rich.

  Full report
• 
  11 Oct 2010
  This House believes France is right to ban the face veil
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar, December 4, 2010 - Arabs overwhelmingly condemn France's ban on the face veil - but a third of them think those who wear it should show greater sensitivity to Western concerns.

  Full report
• 
  26 Apr 2010
  This House believes Barack Obama is too weak to make peace in the Middle East
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Six out of 10 Arabs believe that President Obama is too weak to make peace in the Middle East, according to a recent poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  15 Mar 2010
  Doha Debates Special Event: Hamas meets Fatah
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar, April 7 2010: A majority of Arabs say that violence - not peace talks - stands the best chance of resolving the conflict with Israel, according to an opinion poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  12 Jan 2010
  This House believes this Afghan government is not worth fighting for
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar, February 8 2009:  The vast majority of Arabs have no faith in the Afghan government  - and almost a quarter believe the Taliban would be a better option.

  Full report
• 
  14 Dec 2009
  This House believes Dubai is a bad idea
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar, January 10: After months of financial gloom, Arabs have given the troubled Emirate of Dubai a resounding vote of confidence, according to an opinion poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  09 Nov 2009
  This House trusts Iran NOT to build a nuclear bomb
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar, December 9, 2009: Eighty percent of Arabs disbelieve Iran's assurances that it will not build nuclear weapons, according to a new region-wide poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  12 Oct 2009
  This House deplores the release of the Lockerbie bomber to Libya
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar, November 4: Six out of 10 Arabs support the Scottish government's decision to send the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi back to Libya on compassionate grounds - but a similar number didn't believe Libya would have done the same.

  Full report
• 
  25 May 2009
  This House believes that Muslim women should be free to marry anyone they choose
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Arabs across the Middle East have voiced serious opposition to a recent vote at The Doha Debates that Muslim women should be free to marry the man of their choice.

  Full report
• 
  27 Apr 2009
  This House believes that Arab states should hand over the Sudanese president to the International Criminal Court
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar May 22,  2009: Fifty-seven percent of Arabs hold Sudan's President Al-Bashir either partially or entirely responsible for major crimes in Darfur - but more than three quarters of them rejected the warrant for his arrest, issued by the International Criminal Court. 

  Full report
• 
  25 Mar 2009
  This House believes it's time for the US to get tough on Israel
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar April 15, 2009: Americans are showing significant disenchantment with their government's policy towards Israel - and nearly half of them want a more balanced approach to the Middle East conflict.

  Full report
• 
  15 Feb 2009
  This House believes that after Gaza, Arab unity is dead and buried
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar March 17, 2009: A majority of Arabs believe that Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt were wrong to boycott a summit on Gaza, hosted by Qatar last January and many say a new “Cold War” has broken out in the region, according to the latest opinion poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  18 Jan 2009
  This House believes that political Islam is a threat to the West
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar February 28, 2009: Almost 50 percent of Arabs living in the Middle East believe that Islam is heading for a clash with the West, according to the latest poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  17 Nov 2008
  This House believes that Gulf Arabs value profit over people
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar November 30, 2008: Rich Gulf Arabs should not be propping up the world’s struggling economies nor the World Bank or IMF (International Monetary Fund), according to a recent poll in the Middle East commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  28 Oct 2008
  This House believes the Middle East would be better off with John McCain in the White House
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Doha, Qatar November 25, 2008 -- 40 percent of Iraqis would have Washington bomb Iran to halt its nuclear weapons programme, while more than half of all Arabs share the US view that a nuclear-armed Tehran is intolerable.

  Full report
• 
  16 Sep 2008
  This House believes that progress towards democracy has halted in the Arab world
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Doha, Qatar October 23, 2008: Almost two thirds of Arabs would choose stability over democracy, according to a poll commissioned by The Doha Debates. A clear majority also said they believed that the Middle East is more democratic today than in 2004.

  Full report
• 
  29 Apr 2008
  This House believes the Sunni-Shia conflict is damaging Islam's reputation as a religion of peace
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Nearly two thirds of Arabs believe Sunni-Shia conflict is seriously damaging Islam’s reputation as a religion of peace

  Doha, Qatar June 9, 2008: Nearly two thirds of Arabs believe that the Sunni-Shia conflict is seriously damaging Islam’s reputation as a religion of peace, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  01 Apr 2008
  This House believes Palestinians risk becoming their own worst enemy
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Hamas-Fatah conflict a bigger threat to Palestinians than Israel according to poll

  DOHA, QATAR 12th May 2008: Nearly 40 per cent of Arabs think that the Hamas-Fatah conflict is a bigger threat to Palestinians than Israel, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  03 Mar 2008
  This House believes that Muslims are failing to combat extremism
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Poll reveals Saudi Arabia at greater risk from religious extremism than any other country

  DOHA, QATAR, March 30, 2008: Nearly a third of all Arabs believe that Saudi Arabia is at greater risk from religious extremism than any other country in the world, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  23 Jan 2008
  This House believes Arab governments couldn't care less about Darfur
  MOTION PASSED
  

  Seven out of 10 Arabs want their governments to do more to end the conflict in Darfur, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by The Doha Debates.

  Full report
• 
  26 Nov 2007
  This House believes Britain's role in the Middle East is in terminal decline
  MOTION REJECTED
  

  Six out of 10 Arabs no longer feel Britain has sufficient credibility to be a major player in the Middle East, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by The Doha Debates. In addition, most blamed the UK’s declining influence on its involvement in Iraq.

  Full report