The Battles Of The Youth Bulge Analysis

1. The Battles of the Youth Bulge. Prime among these is a demographic youth bulge of historic proportions that burst the precar¬ious piping of the old political and socioeco¬nomic structures and will continue to over¬whelm the social and institutional orders of the region for some time. Two thirds of the population is under the age of 30 and their search for jobs, identity, and empowerment will fuel the tumult of the region for many years. Economies are not creating jobs fast enough to accommodate them; governance structures are not opening up sufficiently to include them; and their search for iden¬tity has spurred movements as disparate as pro-democracy civic action, radical nation¬alism, and messianic dreams of a revival of the caliphate. This bulge will take at least a couple of decades to work—or break—its way through the system.

2. Power Shift toward the Populace. Advanc¬es in technology and communication have led to a power shift from once all-domi¬nant states to an increasingly informed, powerful, and demanding populace, both as communities and individuals. They have access to the global web of
Women Empowerment and Male Back¬lash. The power shift from states to people also includes a power shift—or long overdue equilibration of power—from men to wom¬en. Women have benefited from the same trends that have empowered populations in general. The old dominance of men—enforced by restriction of access to information, mobility, and mobilization—has been un¬done by the same changes in technology that have affected society in general. Although only in a few cases, as in the strong women’s movement in Tunisia, has this power been directly harnessed and organized, the back¬lash against this empowerment has been strong, from the patriarchal repressiveness of the Muslim Brotherhood, seeking to herd women back into traditional roles of moth¬er and homemaker, to the wholesale bru¬talization, exploitation, and enslavement of women advocated and implemented by