Explaining Arab Public Opinion Toward International Organizations: The Role of Elite Communication

Recent research has demonstrated that Arab Public Opinion toward international organizations (IOs) - such as the European Union (EU) or the United Nations (UN) - is much more skeptical than citizens’ attitudes toward these IOs in other parts of the world. Based on findings in the literature on (European) Euroscepticism, on (Arab) Anti-Americanism and on the social legitimacy of IOs, we argue that the framing of these organizations by elites play a crucial role in shaping Arab perceptions of what these IOs actually do and, hence, significantly influence Arab public opinion toward these organizations. We test our argument using data from self-administered survey experiments in Egypt and Jordan. Preliminary evidence suggests that our argument regarding the effects of elite communication about international organizations holds, but that this is only true for religious and not for secular elites.