The rates of unemployment, crime and burglaries are on the rise, while thieves are multiplying and the number of suicide cases is increasing. Poverty and deprivation are threatening peoples' lives. Dangers are intensifying and solutions are reduced… This is how the new world order should be presented, with its challenges and crises. A year ago, I wrote a piece in which I warned against the fading away and dissolution of the middle-class in Arab societies, as it is considered to be society's “safety device”. Indeed, its vanishing will surely endanger any society regardless of its history and inherent strength. The Federation of Gulf Chambers of Commerce issued a paper last month which emphasizes the importance of transparency and accountability as well as the wealth accountability law, in a bid to put an end to rapid and illicit enrichment and rescue the middle-class in the Gulf countries. In several Arab countries, the middle-class is almost “nonexistent”; it is either very poor or very rich contrary to the one existing in the Arab Gulf countries. Still, by merely observing the current situation in the Gulf, it is easy to notice that the middle-class is in absolute danger since it is facing several difficulties regarding the “unfair” distribution of wealth, as well as the dramatic escalation of prices, with traders who think of taking advantage of people and making money at their expense before anything else. On another hand, it is fundamental to mention the problems of unemployment in the Gulf caused by hiring thousands of foreign workers instead of offering the Gulf citizens advanced and professional training. The Gulf citizens have been facing actual economic crises during the past five years due to the deterioration of the stock markets as well as the emergence of the world's economic crisis which led to the loss of many capitals in the country and created an enormous gap between the poor, the middle and the rich class in the Gulf society. Last month, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia predicted that, compared to last year, the number of unemployed persons in 2009 varies between 219 and 241 million persons; which means an additional number of 29 to 51 million new unemployed persons in the world. Certainly, the Gulf countries will not be excluded from this grim prediction, as the paper issued by the Federation of Gulf Chambers of Commerce regarding the influence of the global economic crisis on the Gulf society and economy, “has highlighted the instability of the Gulf's social structure by declaring that any rich or middle class can turn into a poor one overnight.” Although this paper emphasizes the fact that hopes should be turned to the government's institutions in order to restructure and stop the corrosion of the middle-class, it has however revealed that many factors other than the government have a negative influence on the deterioration of the middle-class such as the economic, local and international conditions. In my opinion, both governmental and private institutions should work conjointly to overcome the obstacles that prevent the middle-class from overcoming its numerous current and upcoming difficulties. Unfortunately, many Arabs and Westerners still believe that Gulf citizens are born with a golden spoon in their mouth, a barrel of oil on their back, and a pocket full of dollars, and that they all lead a very luxurious life, away from any pain and suffering. Furthermore, they are convinced that the government builds for its citizens fancy houses and pays all their expenses. However, the truth is completely the opposite, since half the Gulf citizens are incapable of buying a house or a land to build a house on, due to the wave of exorbitant prices, the lack of “equal opportunities” and the increase of nepotism. The Gulf countries are in dire need of implementing a comprehensive long term vision of economic reform with the active participation of the private sector, in order to achieve sustainable national development through offering job opportunities to qualified citizens first, as well as to build new residential projects with affordable prices for its citizens; consequently putting an end to the erosion of the social classes and preventing the Gulf countries from becoming nations that differentiate between its poor and rich citizens. I believe that if the governments of the Gulf countries had employed half of money they have donated so far to help other countries, or if they had achieved various investments and projects that could benefit citizens first, they would have possibly been able to create both security and stability in society that would quell the fears from the disappearance of the middle class. Furthermore, they would have helped and motivated the poor class to reconstruct itself instead of becoming a “heavy load” on others, in case the governments were unable to implement the wealth accountability law!
