The Economist makes some interesting points concerning the current state of Arab countries. Spurred by The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report that was published a few weeks ago, The Economist outlines the Arab nations’ record of failure.
“They have, for a start, failed to make their people free: six Arab countries have an outright ban on political parties and the rest restrict them slyly. They have failed to make their people rich: despite their oil, the UN reports that about two out of five people in the Arab world live on $2 or less a day … The UNDP reckons that the Arab world must create 50m new jobs by 2020 to accommodate a growing, youthful workforce-virtually impossible on present trends.”
Arabs, when they get the chance, like to vote and understand its implications. Rulers in the Arab world hold their power by having a monopoly of force, using coercion and scare tactics. Rulers in the Arab world hold their power by having a monopoly of force, using coercion and scare tactics instead of deriving their power from the people. However, there is evidence of a growing social upheaval leading toward, as some say, a revolution.
“In almost every Arab country, fertility is decline, more people, especially women, are becoming educated, and businessmen want a bigger say in economies dominated by the state. Above all, a revolution in satellite television has broken the spell of the state-run media and created a public that wants the rulers to explain and justify themselves as never before…The old pattern of Arab government-corrupt, opaque and authoritarian-has failed on every level and does not deserve to survive. At some point it will almost certainly collapse. The great unknown is when.”