Arab Political Demography

The Arab Spring exposed the fundamental weakness of the non-oil Arab economies, namely, the imbalance between population growth and the labour market, resulting in the emergence of structural unemployment among young adults. By the early 2000s these economies faced impossible circumstances: in order to achieve substantial economic growth they had to reduce subsidies and increase privatisation -- economic policies that led to a deterioration of the living standards of the vast majority...
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The Arab Spring exposed the fundamental weakness of the non-oil Arab economies, namely, the imbalance between population growth and the labour market, resulting in the emergence of structural unemployment among young adults. By the early 2000s these economies faced impossible circumstances: in order to achieve substantial economic growth they had to reduce subsidies and increase privatisation -- economic policies that led to a deterioration of the living standards of the vast majority of the population. The Arab Spring created a new category in the region, that of failed Arab state, characterised by a fallen old regimewithout a competent new regime to replace it. Civil wars resulted, along lines of religious or ethnic division, as in Syria (Alawites against Sunnis), Iraq (Shi'is against Sunnis and Kurds against Arabs) and in Yemen (Shiis against Sunnis). Regional divisions accounted for the civil war in Libya. The other side of the new Arab mapis the Arabian Gulf oil states which continue to functio