ABSTRACT
The new Arab social order has been shaped by the intersection of oil wealth and the already existing demographic and socio-economic structures of various countries of the Arab world. Through an investigation of inter-Arab labor migration, many of the inputs, dynamics, and outputs of the new order become apparent. The initial euphoria surrounding mass labor migration from Egypt gave way to a more sober assessment of its implications for the development of Egypt itself. However, the discovery and exploitation of oil in countries of the Arabian Peninsula made it possible for inter-Arab labor migration to pick up again in the 1950s and 1960s. The migratory system set in motion with the 1970s will continue throughout the 1980s—that is, the labor movement from over-populated capital-poor countries will continue to flow to under-populated capital-rich Arab countries.
