Arab Political Demography: Population Growth, Labor Migration and Natalist Policies

The Arab Spring exposed the fundamental weakness of the non-oil Arab economies, namely the imbalance between population growth and the labor market, resulting in the emergence of structural unemployment among young adults. By the early 2000s, these economies faced impossible circumstances. In order to achieve substantial economic growth they had to reduce subsidies and increase privatization-economic policies that led to a deterioration of the living standards of the vast majority of the populat…