International Relations Commons^™

Islam, Globalization, And Economic Performance In The Middle East, Marcus Noland, Howard Pack

Marcus Noland

The Middle East is a demographic time bomb. According to the United Nations De¬velopment Program’s (UNDP) Arab Human Development Report 2002, the population of the Arab region is expected to increase by around 25 percent between 2000 and 2010 and by 50 to 60 percent by 2020—or by perhaps 150 million people, a fig¬ure equivalent to more than two Egypts. Even under the UNDP’s more conserva¬tive scenario, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates will be the only Arab countries in 2020 with median ages above 30. These figures suggest that the region as a whole will experience labor …