Transcript Changing Economic and Social Patterns

Middle East:
Changing Economic and
Social Patterns
What causes economic
and social change in the
Middle East?
Modernization
Four Goals
Changes in a nation that enable it to set
up a stable government and produce a
high level of goods and services
1. After independence a major goal of
Middle Eastern nations was to reduce
European economic influences.
Socialism: a system in which the government
owns and operates major businesses and
controls other parts of the economy –

nationalized industries: acquisition and operation of a
business formerly owned privately/foreign owned
=mixed successes
Today: Government takes leading role: directing
economic growth and privatized some
nationalized industries
2. Population growth poses a challenge
to modernization in the Middle East.
Population explosion has strained
resources: limited farmland and water
Family planning program initiated by gov’t
3. Governments have worked to
modernized agriculture in the Middle
East.
goal to increase cash crop output =
increase income
new water supplies – Irrigation;
desalination plants, Aswan High Dam
Land reform: redistribution of land
Green Revolution: use of technology to
improve agriculture
4. Oil has played an important
role in the Middle East.
near 60% of world’s oil reserves – some
nations have prospered – unevenly
distributed
Guest workers
OPEC: influences world markets (cartel)

formed to control production, competition, and
prices
Helps nations modernize
US and Foreign Oil Link
5. Middle Eastern cities have
undergone rapid growth.
urbanization because of population
explosion and hope for better life
Youth adapt better to the change in
customs from rural to city – Generational
conflict
compete for limited jobs
shantytowns
Slums of Ein El Sira
6. The status of women in Middle
Eastern societies is changing.
Varies
new opportunities in cities: work/education
Choose between economic opportunities
and loyalty to traditional ways of life
Varies
Show 60 Minutes DVD Saudi Women – 13 mins

2015: women are supposed to be given right o vote and hold local office
Bikes and Saudi Women Video 2mins
Malala - Videos

Daily Show (16 mins) - NY Times
Religious Police Article – Dare to Drive TED
Behind the Veil: What Life Is REALLY Like for Women in the Middle
East – Link to video – open in explorer – 7 minutes
Saudi women Struggle Website – Driving Ban Link
No woman No Drive
Saudi suffragettes: Women register to vote for the first time in Saudi Arabia –
Article Link - Link
Obstacles to Saudi women Registering – Link
As Saudi Arabia's Love Of Online Gaming Grows, Developers Bloom –
Link
For Young Saudi Women, Video Games Offer Self-Expression - link
7. Middle Eastern nations have placed
great emphasis on education.
since 1950’s: great progress
Oil money helped
More boys than girls
More urban than rural
Population explosion strains on
educational resources
essential to a nation’s population to reduce
economic dependence on the West and
promote modernization
What caused the economic and
social changes in the Middle East?
Modernization