Introduction

The subject of Arab youth has become the focus of growing concern in the Arab world and Europe and has been represented in the most alarmist terms. The facts seem to speak for themselves: the present generation is proportionally the largest in Arab history, its unemployment rate is the highest and the cultural circumstances in which its identity is to be defined are perhaps the most bewildering. The future prospects for contemporary Arab youth seem bleak indeed. While a general sense of alienation is growing among the young, their chances for social, economic and political integration seem to be declining.