Where’s the next ‘Jasmine revolution’? | beyondbrics | News and views on emerging markets from the Financial Times – FT.com

Whether or not it heralds a new era for the country, last week’s ousting of Tunisia’s president Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali has made investors in the Arab world decidedly skittish.

Is there a real risk of unrest breaking out elsewhere in the region? Renaissance Capital thinks so. The Russian investment bank argues that, largely for demographic reasons, countries in North Africa and the Middle East are more susceptible to wars and revolutions than others.

Sociologists have long argued that countries facing a “youth bulge” – countries in which men aged 15-34 make up more than 15 per cent of the total population, by Renaissance Capital’s definition – face a particularly high risk of unrest.