Middle East

Bilal Bin Abdul Hafeez

 Back Ground
• Great Game : Ottoman, British and Russian Empires 19th Century
• The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India
Office.
• American Naval Strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to
"designate the area between Arabia and India".
• During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence
in Central Asia, a rivalry which would become known as the Great Game.
• Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its
center, the Persian Gulf. He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the
Middle East, and said that after Egypt's Suez Canal, it was the most important
passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing
towards British India. Mahan first used the term in his article "The Persian Gulf
and International Relations", published in September 1902 in the National
Review, a British journal.
 MENA Economy 1/2
• Middle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen)
to extremely wealthy nations (such as Qatar and UAE). Overall, as of 2007,
according to the CIA World Fact book, all nations in the Middle East are
maintaining a positive rate of growth.
• According to the International Monetary Fund, the three largest Middle Eastern
economies in nominal GDP in 2023 were Saudi Arabia ($1.062 trillion), Turkey
($1.029 trillion), and Israel ($539 billion).
• Regarding nominal GDP per capita, the highest ranking countries are Qatar
($83,891), Israel ($55,535), the United Arab Emirates ($49,451) and Cyprus
($33,807).Turkey ($3.573 trillion), Saudi Arabia ($2.301 trillion), and Iran ($1.692
trillion) had the largest economies in terms of GDP PPP. When it comes to GDP
PPP per capita, the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($124,834), the United
Arab Emirates ($88,221), Saudi Arabia ($64,836), Bahrain ($60,596) and Israel
($54,997). The lowest-ranking country in the Middle East, in terms of GDP
nominal per capita, is Yemen ($573).
 MENA Economy 2/2
• The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that
while some nations are heavily dependent on export of only oil and oil-related
products (such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait), others have a highly diverse
economic base (such as Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Egypt).
• Industries of the Middle Eastern region include oil and oil-related products,
agriculture, cotton, cattle, dairy, textiles, leather products, surgical instruments,
defense equipment (guns, ammunition, tanks, submarines, fighter jets, UAVs, and
missiles).
• Banking is also an important sector of the economies, especially in the case of
UAE and Bahrain.
• Unemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region,
particularly among young people aged 15–29, a demographic representing 30%
of the region's total population. The total regional unemployment rate in 2005,
according to the International Labour Organization, was 13.2%, and among youth
is as high as 25%, up to 37% in Morocco and 73% in Syria.
 Geo-Strategic Importance of MENA
• MENA is one of the cradles of civilization and of urban culture. Three of the
world’s major religions originated in the region — Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam.

• Oil, trade routes, geography and terrain, faith and ideology, all contribute to the
strategic importance of the Middle East.
• A variety of countries make up the Middle East and North Africa (MENA),
including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab
Emirates, and Yemen.
• The Middle East is similarly disproportionately rich in Natural Gas (32 percent of
the world's known natural gas reserves are in the region) and Phosphate
(Morocco alone has more than half of the world's reserves)
• MENA is one of the cradles of civilization and of urban culture. Three of
the world’s major religions originated in the region — Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam.
• The region’s vast petroleum supply — two-thirds of the world’s known oil
reserves — is a major reason for the world’s interest.
• But the influence of MENA extends beyond its rich oil fields. It occupies a
strategically important geographic position between Asia, Africa, and
Europe.
• Three significant Trade Routes : Suez canal, Persian Gulf, Europe to Central
Asia Road Link
•
 Population
• MENA’s rapid population growth exacerbates the challenges that this
region faces as it enters the third millennium.
• For hundreds of years, the population of MENA fluctuated around 30
million, reaching 60 million early in the 20th century.
• Only in the second half of 20th century did population growth in the
region gain momentum.
• The total population increased from around 100 million in 1950 to around
380 million in 2000 — an addition of 280 million people in 50 years.
• During this period the population of the MENA region increased 3.7 times,
more than any other major world region