The report also showed young Arabs have thrown their support behind Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his reformist agenda. Many see him – and his Saudi Vision 2030 plan – as factors that will shape the future of the Arab region over the next decade.

More than half of respondents believe the crown prince is taking Saudi Arabia in the right direction, while 86 per cent backed his crackdown on corruption.

Within Saudi itself, his popularity is even higher, with 97 per cent of young Saudis seeing him as a “strong leader”, and 92 per cent confident in his economic blueprint for the kingdom.

Among young GCC respondents, Prince Mohammed polled significantly higher than US President Donald Trump (25 per cent to Trump’s 16 per cent) as the person they believed would have the biggest impact on the region in the next decade; while among overall voters he scored higher than any other Arab leader.

It is a ringing endorsement of the crown prince’s ambitious agenda, which has included passing a law that allows Saudi women to drive. On this, too, young Arabs are overwhelmingly in favour, with 88 per cent of respondents claiming to approve of the move. Within Saudi itself, support runs at 81 per cent.

Despite this, Saudi youth still feel more needs to be done to support women’s rights, with 92 per cent of young men in the kingdom in favour of expanding them.

Part of the Prince Mohammed’s appeal to this demographic, said Turki bin Abdullah Aldakhil, general manager of Al Arabiya news channel, is his own youth, as well as his ability to frame himself as a political leader with sharp commercial nous.

“We know that around 60 per cent of people in the Arab region are below 30 years old,” he said, “which means that this leader is one of them. He thinks like them.

“The price of oil was $38 when he became crown prince, which means that he realised the importance of opening new doors and not relying on oil as the main source of revenue.”

In a shift that began in 2017, young Arabs are also increasingly seeing Russia as their ally over the US. A fifth cited Russia as their country’s biggest ally compared to only 13 per cent who chose the US.

In the Levant, 65 per cent of young people see the US as their enemy, while in the GCC more than half (55 per cent) make the claim. This marks a dramatic change from 2016, when the US polled 25 per cent against Russia’s 9 per cent.

Direct lines can be drawn to the Trump administration, with the majority of respondents claiming Trump’s election and presidency has had a negative effect on the region. Even so, despite young Arabs’ political antipathy, 17 per cent of those surveyed claimed the US to be the country they would most like theirs to emulate, after the UAE.

“For my generation,” said Tom Fletcher, visiting professor of international relations at NYUAD who also spoke at the launch of the survey, “as a British citizen, we all want to believe that America is that shining city on the hill. Many respondents do believe that the American people represent that, as a beacon of hope and liberty in the world.”

Looking ahead, the priorities for young Arabs are clear: as the digital revolution gathers pace – for the first time, more young Arabs are getting their news from social media than from television – countries must focus on combating terrorism, creating jobs, overhauling the education system and fighting corruption.

 “Creating jobs in an era increasingly driven by automation and robotics will be the challenge of our global era,” wrote Molavi. “But it is a challenge that must be met. The levels of frustration seen among youth in North Africa and the Levant are unsustainable, both politically and morally.”

“It’s not about just getting millions of kids into school,” said Fletcher. “It’s also about the quality of the education. We need to find a way of instilling that entrepreneurial spirit, that creativity in the region that will deliver the hundreds of thousands of 21st century jobs we need.” - PA