Nationalism - Challenge of States and People in Arab world

Arab world remains the second-most rapidly growing region in the world after sub-Saharan Africa. But even though cultural factors have contributed to higher fertility rates than in countries with similar standards of living, population growth rates have fallen sharply everywhere but in the West Bank and Gaza. Population growth rates are projected to continue to decline as the region experiences the same downward pressures on fertility that have resulted in slower population growth in East and South Asia and Latin America. Because of the large increases in population in the 1980s and 1990s, the numbers of young people entering the labor markets of these countries have been rising rapidly and will continue to do so for the next two decades, adding to the difficulties young people currently face in finding employment. Due to variations in birth rates and migration, religious diversity in the Arab world is declining. The dwindling of non-Muslim religious communities reduces the number of citizens making the argument for a secular state. This book is a critical analysis of the Arab world.