Classifying the Middle East

Classifying the Middle East as a developed, underdeveloped,

or developing is difficult, the statistics can be misleading. For example, Kuwait has the highest per capita income in the world, but this fact disguises an unequal wealth distribution and the total dependence upon oil money. Libya enjoyed a 57.9% increase in per capita income between 1960 and 1968, and that number continues to increase today, but "a great effort is still required to improve standards of living for the majority" of the Libyans (Beaumont 223). Contrast Kuwait and Libya against Turkey; judging by per capita income or energy consumption (two measures commonly used to determine levels of development), Turkey is lower than either. Yet, Turkey is one of the few Middle Eastern countries that has made real industrial progress in the last fifty years (Beaumont 223).

Until World War II, the Middle East was economically sub-ject to western influences. Since the war, there has been more economic progress made in the Middle East than in Latin America or Africa. A short history by Peter Beaumont summarizes the background to this growth:

This [growth] rests on foundations laid during the nineteenth century, when much of the Middle East was drawn firmly with the trading orbit of northwestern Europe as demands for food and raw materials grew. Considerable investment was made in the infrastructure during the otherwise stagnant period of the 1920's and 1930's, and this paid dividends later. The Second World War

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e distribution of wealth (Beaumont 228). A third problem that slows progress in the Middle East are the time, money, lives and property lost to wars and other conflicts. The recent war between Iran and Iraq reduced available world oil supplies by about 4 million barrels per day, which really represents lost oil revenues that could have been used constructively (Ley 1079). Civil wars and border conflicts also do little to encourage outside investments. Peace is an economic issue. Being basically non-industrial, the nations of the Middle East share many economic problems with similar regions throughout the world. An example is the unstable agricultural situation that is closely tied to the water problem described earlier. Agriculture in the Middle East supplies essential food and raw materials, but yields are completely dependent on rainfall. Iraq and Turkey are food exporters, but most of the Middle East is actually "food deficient" (Beaumont 238). Compounding the problem, many farmers have switched from growing staple grains to growing cotton, fruit and vegetables because these crops bring higher prices. Although economic plans do exist calling for better land use, improved methods, and new fertilizers; farmers are reluctant to

Category: Foreign - C