Abstract
The Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) has been one of the most economically dynamic in the world. The region’s rate of economic expansion, due primarily to its rich oil and well-established human capital reserves, has been among the most robust of the world’s 19 major subregions. And this historical pattern persists into the current period and is expected to continue to do so for at least the foreseeable future. This chapter explores the critical relationship that exists between the region’s patterns of economic development and its broad-based social gains since the year 2000 to the present. Special attention is given to the relationship that exists between economic frustration, the region’s rapidly increasing numbers of young people, the sense of relative deprivation experienced by these young people and, in some cases, their turning to violence, even terrorism, as an outlet for expressing their frustration and sense of aggrievement toward others they believe to be responsible for their poverty and, more fundamentally, sense of economic anomie. The chapter, however, is essentially positive in substance and projects a favorable future for most countries in the MENA region.
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Alphabetized List of MENA countries (Most commonly used): Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, State of Palestine, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
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Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an economic theory that compares different countries' currencies through a “basket of goods” approach. According to this concept, two currencies are in equilibrium or at par when a basket of goods (considering the exchange rate) is priced the same in both countries. Closely related to PPP is the law of one price, which is an economic theory that predicts that after accounting for differences in interest rates and exchange rates, the cost of something in country X should be the same as that in country Y in real terms (Investopedia, 2019).
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These entries provide the distribution of the population according to age. Information is included by sex and age group as follows: 0–14 years (children), 15–24 years (early working age), 25–54 years (prime working age), 55–64 years (mature working age), 65 years and over (elderly). The age structure of a population affects a nation’s key socioeconomic issues. Countries with young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to invest more in the health sector. The age structure can also be used to help predict potential political issues. For example, the rapid growth of a young adult population unable to find employment can lead to unrest.
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Global inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 18% in 2012 to $1.35 trillion, as the world economy slowed and political uncertainty in some big economies made investors cautious. The European Union alone accounted for two-thirds of this decline. Inflows to developed countries fell by a third to $561 billion, the lowest for almost a decade. Developing countries received 52% of global inflows, overtaking rich countries for the first time. Although the overall amount of investment to developing economies fell slightly, some regions performed strongly. South America’s inward FDI rose by 12%, and Africa’s by 5%. And inflows to the world’s poorest countries hit a record high (Economist, 2017).
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In recognition of the special importance of the role which can be fulfilled only by official development assistance, a major part of financial resource transfers to the developing countries should be provided in the form of official development assistance (Shah, 2014). Each economically advanced country will progressively increase its official development assistance to the developing countries and will exert its best efforts to reach a minimum of 0.7% of its gross national product at market prices by the middle of the decade (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2018).
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Sirgy, M.J., Estes, R.J., El-Aswad, ES., Rahtz, D.R. (2019). Joblessness, Political Unrest, and Jihadism Among the Region’s Youth: Contemporary Challenges and Future Trends. In: Combatting Jihadist Terrorism through Nation-Building. Human Well-Being Research and Policy Making. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17868-0_3
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