THE past two and a half years have been some of the most eventful in modern Middle Eastern history. Popular revolutions have ousted dictators in Tunisia, Egypt (pictured), Libya and Yemen, and provoked a civil war in Syria. They have also ushered in a resurgence of Islamism, heightened sectarian rhetoric, civil struggles over the nature of the state and a regional and global war by proxy as rival powers back opposing sides in Syria. So what do people in the region think of these tumultuous times? A recent survey of 20,000 people in 14 Arab countries carried out by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy, a Doha-based think-tank, offers some insight. While bad news makes the biggest headlines in the West, positive developments are also discernible, such as a rise in freedom of speech. Of those questioned, 61% see the Arab spring as positive overall, while 22% think it has been negative. Although Syria's rebels are losing support as the war becomes ever-more vicious and the jihadis ever-more numerous, few think President Bashar Assad holds the answer: 66% reckon his regime should be overthrown. Only 3% think Syria’s rebels should be crushed. Unhappily for thosehoping for a negotiated peace settlement, just 10% of Arabs think that is the best way out of the crisis.

Most respondents, who answered questions face-to-face between July 2012 and March this year, want democracy and a pluralist system in which all parties, religious or otherwise, can compete. They also want the influence of clerics on public affairs to be checked. But respondents are split over whether religion and politics should be separate—most are happy for religious parties to compete in elections. Half say they are not worried about the rising influence of Islamists, while more than a third expresses some concern, including 16% who are seriously concerned—views evident in Egypt where protests against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood are planned for June 30th.

Although each country is undergoing its own experience, most respondents strongly identify with a pan-Arab identity. Nearly four fifths reckon Arabs make up a single nation; three quarters favour closer integration between countries. The vast majority opposes officially recognising Israel, and 36% think that country is the biggest threat to the security of their home state. Another 11% grant that honour to America; a percentage point less than those whose greatest fear is Iran. In Yemen, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, countries which compete with the Islamic Republic for regional influence, more than a third thinks Iran represents the biggest threat.

The survey also bursts a few myths. Twitter and Facebook were helpful in rallying people and publishing news during the uprisings, but in the Arab world the internet remains an elite phenomenon: 55% have never used the web, and television remains the medium of the masses. More than 80% of respondents say they are religious—of which 21% say they are very religious—but most are against defining followers of other religions or variations as apostates.