Unemployment in the Arab World

Recently, Arab ministers of labor met in Cairo (5/15/2011) to discuss their agenda in light of the spring revolutions in the Arab world.

The main item on their agenda was how to fight corruption, which is deep-rooted in the Arab states in both public and private sectors of their societies.

The participants in the conference have revealed that corruption in the Arab world has been estimated at $400 billion, according to International estimates.

The ministers have advocated the development of a new Arab social political contract to fight and eliminate corruption at all levels. Furthermore, the participants urged support for an Arab economic development, the creation of an Arab economic market and the free movement of labor from on state to another. The objective behind the strategy is to create a united economic region similar to what has been taking place in many regions worldwide.

In order to expedite the success of the proposed agenda, the participants in the conference called on governments in the Arab world to assume their responsibility in supporting the development of their infrastructures. Emphasis should be placed on improving the quality of education and overcoming the high rates of illiteracy, transportation, communications, electrical power and fresh water availability. In addition, the minsters of labor emphasized the importance of developing small industrial projects to create the opportunity for more employment.

The recommendations of the labor ministers in the conclusion of the 38^th annual meeting sounded very good. However, to what extent the governments of Arab states will go to implement the recommendations is unknown.

I do not want to sound pessimistic, but I have heard such recommendations for more than sixty years but government officials remain corrupt.

The idea of an Arab Common Market was proposed in 1947 and politicians keep rehashing the same topic over and over.

The idea of the European Common Market was proposed in 1957. It has been implemented and the European Common Market membership has now reached 27.

The basic problem in the Arab world is that the political leadership has been in a deep sleep. The end result is people revolting against the corrupt leadership in the Arab world. Hopefully, this might open a new chapter in the political, economic and social history of the Arab world. It is time for Arab political leadership to start investing some of their trillions of dollars in the Arab world instead of other regions worldwide. Employment of the young generation is the most important factor for the stability of the region.

Blackwater in the Emirates

The NYT reported on May 15, 2011 that the United Arab Emirates had hired Black Water to build a foreign mercenary battalion for the Emirati government. The battalion will consist of 800 mercenaries from Latin American and South Africa at a cost of $529 million. Its main function is to provide security for the Emirates skyscrapers, the oil lines and the nuclear sites to protect them from attacks. The Black Water foreign battalion’s major function will be to protect the Emirates from internal and external attacks, including any attempts by local Emirates citizens to protest. It is of interest that the Emirates provided military help in recent conflicts to Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan, which reflect its defense capability.

For the U.A.E. to rely on Black Water for such important defense functions leads to puzzling questions. First of all, Black Water military activities in Iraq leaves so much to be desired. Its forces have killed Iraqi unarmed citizens and the firm is being sued in the U.S. for the crimes committed in Iraq. This is one of the reasons among others that Black Water moved from the U.S. and that its headquarters are now located in the U.A.E.

Second, the 800 foreign mercenaries (which is a small number) are not going to make too much of a difference in the security of the U.A.E.

It will not be that difficult for the Emirates to recruit and train even a large number of their own people to perform the same task. If the ruling family can’t trust their own people to perform such a task, then why not hire some of the military experts, especially from Egypt or Jordan, to perform the same functions. Is it really a matter of trust? Are Arab recruits not to be trusted? There are millions of young Arabs who are college graduates and unemployed who would be an excellent source to recruit and train to perform the required task.

It seems to me that Arab heads of state have failed to learn a lesson from the turn of events that have been taking place all over the Arab world. They are short sighted and have failed to see beyond their noses. The major problems in the Arab world are low income, poverty and unemployment. These are the reasons behind the ongoing uprisings.

The $529 million that Black Water will get from the Emirates could be of some help for the unemployed young men in the Arab world. In any country, where no democratic institutions prevail, sometimes decision are made by one or a few who control the country, and they dispose of the state’s wealth as if it is their own. However, at the end, they will be the losers.