6.5 Geographic Insights: North Africa and Southwest Asia Review and Self-Test

• 1. Water, Food, and Climate Change: The population of this predominantly dry region is increasing faster than is access to cultivable land and water for agriculture and other human uses. Many countries here are dependent on imported food, and because global food prices are unstable, the region often has food insecurity. Climate change could reduce food output both locally and globally and make water, already a scarce commodity, a source of conflict. New technologies offer solutions to water scarcity but are expensive and unsustainable.

  • Question

    How will people get enough water to grow food in the future, especially if climate change makes this dry region even drier?

  • Question

    What factors could make it difficult to obtain enough water for agriculture? What technologies could provide potential solutions? How crucial is imported food for this region?
• 2. Gender and Population: Gender disparities are increasingly prominent in this region as political change begins to occur. Women are dependent because they are generally less educated than men, have few options for working outside the home, and have little access to political power. Women’s roles are usually confined to the home and to having and raising children. As a result, this region has the second-highest population growth rate in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Question

    How does the low status of women contribute to this region’s high population growth?

  • Question

    Relative to other regions, how high is this region’s population growth rate? How do women’s education levels influence their decisions about how many children to have?
• 3. Urbanization and Globalization: Two patterns of urbanization have emerged in the region, both tied to the global economy. In the oil-rich countries, the development of spectacular new luxury-oriented urban areas is based on flows of money, credit, goods, and skilled people. But most cities are old, with little capacity to handle the mass of poor, rural migrants attracted by industries aimed at earning foreign currency. In these older cities, many people live in overcrowded slums with few services.

  • Question

    How has globalization shaped different patterns of urbanization throughout the region?

  • Question

    Why is present urbanization so different in the Gulf states than in the rest of the region? How have those economic reforms that are aimed at improving global competitiveness, especially in export-oriented agriculture, influenced urbanization outside the Gulf states?
• 4. Development and Globalization: The vast fossil fuel resources of a few countries have transformed economic development and driven globalization in this region. In these countries, economies have become powerfully linked to global flows of money, resources, and people. Politics have also become globalized, with Europe and the United States strongly influencing many governments.

  • Question

    How have the huge fossil fuel reserves of some countries transformed economic development and driven globalization in this region?

  • Question

    Characterize the flows of money, resources, and people that are features of globalization in the Gulf states.

  • Question

    How might changes in job opportunities for women in this region relieve the dependency on imported labor? Where is this likely to be most important?
• 5. Power, Politics, and Gender: Despite the predominance of elected bodies of government, and the increasing participation of women as voters, wealthy, politically connected males, clerics, and often the military retain the real power. Waves of protest, which included some women participants, swept this region, beginning with the Arab Spring of 2010, and resulted in the overthrow of several authoritarian governments. Within the region, official response to the Arab Spring has included both repression and reforms, but only a few of the positive changes hold promise for women.

  • Question

    What would you say are the chief signs that this region may be democratizing?

  • Question

    How have recent events changed the political landscape of this region?

  • Question

    What are some consequences of repression of the political opposition? What has been the effect of integrating political opposition movements into the democratic process?