Since then, research and analysis on knowledge production and innovation in the Arab region has grown exponentially in recent years. The topic of research has become more important with the expansion of awareness of the importance of knowledge in society. The best among this literature was Science and Sovereignty: Expectations and Potential in Arab Countries, Antoine Zahlan (2012). As for the worst of them, it is data for public awareness about the competitiveness of Arab economies, as the research appears as a compilation of many indicators, and this is accompanied by the claim that Arab countries need to enter the knowledge economy. These claims are very broad because they are based on macroeconomic assessments that are themselves based on loosely empirical indicators, but have little understanding of the research dynamics. This paper presents a critical assessment of the indicators used in the Arab world to describe the status of the use of knowledge in public and developmental policies, and how there is a problematic relationship between academic knowledge and its transfer to public policies and public awareness.