The Middle East and America's election | Who would be best for the Arabs? | Economist.com

The Middle East and America's election | Who would be best for the Arabs? | Economist.com: "SIX months ago, in a mock poll conducted at the US-Islamic World Forum, a gathering of influential Muslims and Americans held every year in the Gulf state of Qatar, Barack Obama won a resounding victory as the preferred choice for the next American president. If one is to believe internet chatter from America’s extreme right, the Illinois senator’s popularity among Muslims in the Middle East might be due to the allegations that he is 43.75% Arab by blood, or that he has been secretly funded by Arabs with ties to terrorism. Then again, it might just be natural that a candidate who has some Muslim ancestry, and who has protested against the widely loathed policies of the Bush administration, would inspire more enthusiasm than a Republican opponent committed to continuing those policies. Oddly enough, however, recent statistical and anecdotal evidence from the region shows that enthusiasm for Mr Obama is less fulsome than might be expected"