Point of View

Edward Sayre and Samantha Constant analyze how the youth bulge in the Middle East and associated pressures in the education and labor markets have triggered recent political events in the region and what governments must do to meet the economic challenges that remain and will remain even in the context of political reforms. This commentary was originally published in the National Journal on February 19, 2011.

The Middle East is currently experiencing an unprecedented youth bulge, the effects of which are being felt in protests and demands for reform across the region. In a recent interview, Ragui Assaad discusses the region's unique demographic situation and ways to transform unrest into economic opportunity. The transcript of this interview was originally published by the Council of Foreign Relations on 14 February 2011.

The Middle East Youth Initiative has released a new study that explores youth transitions in Iran in depth, exploiting longitudinal data to track youth preferences and outcomes as they move from the education system into the labor and marriage markets. Diana Greenwald interviewed coauthor Djavad Salehi-Isfahani to discuss some of the paper’s main findings.