Professor Shibley Telhami's Insights on President Biden's Middle East Trip in 'The Washington Post'

Professor Shibley Telhami of the Department of Government and Politics recently published an analysis of new survey data on Americans' support for President Joe Biden's mid-July trip to the Middle East. The insights come from a recent Critical Issues Poll the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development conducted with fellow GVPT Professor Stella Rouse from June 22-28. 

To determine how Americans' felt about President Biden's forthcoming trip, the poll's co-directors divided the sample group into three subsamples. Each subsample was provided a different introduction to a question about whether they approved, disapproved or neither approved nor disapproved of the president’s visit.

While the latter two groups—who were respectively provided additional information about what the president has said about Israel, and what the president has said about Saudi Arabia—did demonstrate that the additional context had an impact on their response, overall, fewer than one-quarter of Americans approved of the president’s trip.

"Americans are unenthusiastic about the president's trip to the Middle East, and disapproval grows when Israel and Saudi Arabia are emphasized. It's a politically risky trip for Biden," Telhami said. 

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Published on Thu, Jul 7, 2022 - 11:09AM