Depressing state of the Arab world

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has published a new report on the state of the Arab world.

The Economist calls it a "depressing reading."

Below are some of the "depressing" facts about the Arab world:

- Lack of freedom: Six Arab countries have an outright ban on political parties and the rest restrict them slyly.

- Poverty: Despite their oil, about two out of five people in the Arab world live on $2 or less a day.

- Lack of security: Powerful internal security forces too often turn the Arab state into a menace to its own people.

- Joblessness: The Arab world must create 50 million new jobs by 2020 to accommodate a growing, youthful workforce—virtually impossible on present trends.

The Economist predicts that, at some point, there will be a revolution against the current dictatorships throughout the Arab world:

"In almost every Arab country, fertility is in decline, more people, especially women, are becoming educated, and businessmen want a bigger say in economies dominated by the state. Above all, a revolution in satellite television has broken the spell of the state-run media and created a public that wants the rulers to explain and justify themselves as never before. On their own, none of these changes seems big enough to prompt a revolution. But taken together they are creating a great agitation under the surface...."

But, then, what can the potential revolutionaries achieve when their dictators are often on good terms with the Western powers?

Just recently, Hillary Clinton promised to protect American allies in the Middle East, most of whom are the above discussed dictatorships.