As we enter a new year it is customary for people to hope it will be better than the last one, especially if the past year was full of turmoil and unrest. When we look back on 2012 it was a year full of horrors, especially in the Middle East, whilst globally it was a tough year economically.
The truth is that the last three years have witnessed unprecedented events globally and regionally, beginning with the collapse of financial institutions. These institutions were worth more than several countries, and no one thought could simply tumble like a house of cards. Yet the crisis, having stemmed from the irrational speculation and risks taken on the international financial scene, soon extended to the states themselves, and thus we saw the major economies of the Western world in recession, with fears of a great depression similar to the one in the 1930s. Likewise we saw the countries of the EU, the second largest economic bloc in the world, borrowing and succumbing to the conditions of the IMF in order to get out of their crises, and questions began to be raised about the status of the Euro.
In the Middle East, 2012 was an extension of the events of 2011 and the uprisings that took place in major Arab republics. The transitional phase has so far been full of turmoil and has yet to settle down, and this has added pressure on economies which are already suffering from structural defects including high unemployment. In addition to this there is the unique case of the Syrian crisis, which last year took on a serious bloody dimension, and as the fog of war continues it is hard to see the political future in 2013, let alone the economic vision.
No comments:
Post a Comment