The Economist (June 2)
“Climate change is making the Arab world more miserable…Already-long dry seasons are growing longer and drier, withering crops. Heat spikes are a growing problem too, with countries regularly notching lethal summer temperatures. Stretch such trends out a few years and they seem frightening—a few decades and they seem apocalyptic.”
Tags: Apocalyptic, Arab, Climate change, Crops, Dry seasons, Frightening, Heat spikes, Lethal, Miserable, Temperatures, Withering
The Economist (August 27)
“In the wreckage of the Arab world today, many act as if the idea that Islamists can play a useful democratic role is broken, too. They are being repressed anew by reactionary regimes, challenged by violent jihadists and looked upon with suspicion by voters whom they failed…. Yet the blanket repression of all Islamists is the worst possible response. In the end, it will lead only to more resentment, more turmoil and more terrorism.”
Tags: Arab, Democratic, Islamists, Jihadists, Reactionary, Regimes, Repressed, Resentment, Suspicion, Terrorism, Turmoil, Useful, Voters, Wreckage
The Economist (May 14)
The mess that has followed the once hopeful Arab spring, “is not so much a clash of civilisations as a war within Arab civilisation. Outsiders cannot fix it—though their actions could help make things a bit better, or a lot worse. First and foremost, a settlement must come from Arabs themselves.”
Tags: Arab, Arab spring, Civilisations, Clash, Outsiders, Settlement, War
Washington Post (February 9)
“The big demographic trends shaping the world are mysterious and often overlooked.” The dramatic Arab Spring has largely overshadowed one of these. A flight from marriage has caused birth rates to drop precipitously. Over the past three decades, “twenty-two Muslim countries and territories had fertility declines of 50 percent or more. The sharpest drops were in Iran, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Libya, Albania, Qatar and Kuwait, which all recorded declines of 60 percent or more.” The current youth bulge in many Arab societies will quickly give way to the graying society characteristic of Japan and Europe.
Tags: Arab, Demographic trends, Europe, Fertility, Graying society, Japan, Marriage, Muslim countries, Youth bulge