Introduction

The Arab uprisings of 2011 that initially erupted in Tunisia on 17 December 2010, spread rapidly and strongly to four other countries, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Tunisia managed to introduce democratic governance though not free from serious domestic strains, while subsequent political changes in Egypt led in 2014 to the emergence of a ruling regime that essentially reflects a return to the pre-2011 military-influenced mode of government. Cross-country research on the economic causes of civil conflicts has largely focused on the ‘greed vs. grievance’ issue: greed determinants would include mainly economic factors, such as poverty or appropriable natural resources, while grievance determinants include political exclusion, social polarization, or ethnic fractionalization. Studies of unemployment in the countries where the uprisings broke out indicate that high unemployment, in particular youth unemployment, was one of the factors contributing to the uprisings.