ABSTRACT
This chapter provides Middle East profiles, including key information about the relevant corporate sustainability and responsibility (CSR) history, country-specific issues, trends, research, education and leading organizations. The international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countries, with around half of the world's oil estimated to be in this arid region. As a region, the Middle East is not clearly defined but generally constitutes the land joining Asia and Africa. The chapter covers the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant and Iran. CSR in the region has not arisen from consumer pressure or demands. With a very young population profile in the Middle East, there is considerable pressure to provide jobs in the region's already overstretched labour markets. Worker health and safety is becoming more stringent in the Middle East, in response to mounting international pressure, high level debates at pan-Arab conferences and an increase in regional media coverage on the subject.
