Noted pollster John Zogby, President of Zogby International and Middle East Expert Dr. James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute (AAI) USA, offer remarks at the second annual YAL Global Action Forum
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, John and James Zogby offered remarks before the Young Arab Leader's Global Action Forum in New York City on the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election and the role of Middle East issues in this election. The Young Arab Leaders (YAL) is the region's foremost development platform for business, public sector and civil society leaders in the Middle East.
Highly-respected American pollster, John Zogby, offered the crowd a broad overview of the political landscape. Based on his polling, he identified trends in the American electorate. Of these broader trends, he cited the fact that two-thirds of the American people feel that the country is in crisis and pointed out that many Americans have returned to the political center, away from extreme liberalism or conservatism. Calling this the anti-institutional election, he cited Hurricane Katrina as a hidden, yet lingering cause of voter disillusionment and dissatisfaction with the status quo. Although dissatisfied with current leadership, he discounted an easy victory for Democrats, indicating that the election would be hard fought and that all of the remaining candidates, on both sides, have been damaged.
Dr. James Zogby discussed the role that Middle East issues have played in the current U.S. election. He indicated that, to his disappointment, the Middle East has not been part of the political debate during this campaign cycle. The American people, like people everywhere, are concerned more with their own lives, so issues such as the economy and health care dominate. He felt that the Republican candidates, with few exceptions, have adopted the same foreign policy as President Bush. Dr. Zogby believes that the Democratic candidates have talked around foreign policy issues as opposed to addressing them in a substantive way. Dr. Zogby ended his discussion saying that American needs a new Middle East policy and that this election has the potential to bring such change.
YAL Forum participants then had the opportunity to ask the two experts questions.
YAL is an independent pan-Arab organization that aims to create a new generation of young leaders capable of actively participating in the region's development process and driving it into a new phase of growth. It is a network of the region's leaders from the business community, politics, academia, media, arts, culture and civil society, who are committed to improving the state of the Arab world.
About Young Arab Leaders: The Young Arab Leaders is a network of Arab men and women who have seen the power of action in their own lives, reached unprecedented levels of success for their age, are positive and can see beyond today's difficulties to that vision of a prosperous Arab future. These leaders are currently in prominent positions of responsibility and are destined for extraordinary achievement, and they believe that their efforts today can have an impact on their communities, countries and the region as a whole. For more information please visit: http://www.yaleaders.org/ About Dow: With annual sales of $54 billion and 46,000 employees worldwide, Dow is a diversified chemical company that combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to constantly improve what is essential to human progress. The Company delivers a broad range of products and services to customers in around 160 countries, connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at http://www.dow.com/ For further information, please contact:
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/ DATASOURCE: Young Arab Leaders CONTACT: Rami Adwan, PR Associate Account Manager, JiWiN, +9714-361-3-586, Fax: +9714-388-8-001, ; Hani Wassim, The Dow Chemical Company, +971-4-332-8866, ; Upasna Swain, , or Gayathri Subramaniam, , both of GolinHarris, +971-4-332-3308, Fax: +971-4-331-6733 Web site: http://www.yaleaders.org/ http://www.dow.com/
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