Dalia Mogahed: I think a lot of people have written extensively on what is called the “youth bulge,” where the majority of the Muslim world is below the age of adulthood. And at the same time, this huge youth bulge is not being sustained; or its energy is not being utilized in economic growth, or in job creation. So we have a huge youth bulge in the Muslim world, but not the jobs to support it. And I think that that problem is one that we have to address.
But from my data, our analysis – my team’s analysis – shows that those who sympathize with terrorism are not actually more likely to be unemployed. I don’t think that takes away from the need to address this issue. I’m just not sure that it’s at the heart of the terrorism problem.
Recorded: July 3, 2007
Discuss
joe stafura on October 27, 2008, 2:39 PM
Mr. Soros has once again provided us with a great starting point for turning the dialog about energy from a political football into maybe the first unified global effort.
I worked for NASA in the 70’s and in commercial industry throughout the 80 until the present and have seen how the innovations of the Space Program became the seed for the expansion in computer, material and chemical technologies.
His suggestion would result in an even larger and more inclusive impact, providing opportunities around the world. If this idea were to be acted on it could be the crown jewel of the legacy of the greatest global citizen of our times.
Delia Emmons on October 27, 2008, 4:32 PM
Has Mr. Soros really told us anything we
don’t know? We have had a safe clean alternative energy source for the past 40 years: Nuclear energy. We have allowed frivolous lawsuits by environmentalists, more of whom have law degrees rather than engineering degrees, to deter us from building nuclear plants. Our French, German and Japanese friends, however, have taken just the opposite tack and have proven the technology safe and effective. Despite that, we sit with our heads stuck in the ground and can’t seem to get out of our own way. Solar power remains the sentimental favorite of the environmental lobby but there are reasons that it cannot be widely deployed: scientific and engineering reasons. Wind and biofuels are stopgaps at best and hydrogen fuel cells, while promising, have problems as well. Should we continue to develop these potential sources? Of course — no stone should be left unturned. But for heaven’s sake, let’s get off the dime on nuclear power – it works and it is safe.
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