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Part of the book series: Rethinking International Development Series ((RID))

Abstract

On the eve of the Arab Spring uprisings, the AW was itself in the throes of an inextricable agrarian crisis. The chronic and profound Arab food insecurity had been exposed by the global food crisis of 2008. The stripping of entitlements from the agrarians had created a massive migration to urban centres and resulted in the largest rate of youth unemployment in the world. The mining of the landscapes, especially its soils, water and biodiversity components, had created an environmental catastrophe. The AW was ripe for insurrections. The Tunisian spark set motion to Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and now Iraq. The remaining countries felt the tremors and experienced their share of instability.

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© 2016 Rami Zurayk

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Zurayk, R. (2016). The Arab Uprisings through an Agrarian Lens. In: Kadri, A. (eds) Development Challenges and Solutions after the Arab Spring. Rethinking International Development Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137541406_8

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