NEW YORK – Many factors underlay the ongoing upheavals in the Middle East: decades of corrupt and authoritarian rule, increasingly literate and digitally-connected societies, and skyrocketing world food prices. To top it off, throughout the Middle East (as well as Sub-Saharan Africa and most of South Asia), rapid population growth is fueling enormous demographic pressures.
发自纽约——其实早已有众多因素促成了今日中东的乱局：长达数十年的腐败与专制，教育程度不断提高且经由网络串联起来的社会，以及飙升的全球食品价格。最后，整个中东地区（以及撒哈拉南部非洲以及南亚地区）人口数量的快速增长也带来了巨大的人口压力。