It's the economy, stupid

While I'm on a demographics kick, allow me to demonstrate one of the reasons why there are so many terrorists coming out of the Middle East. You know the old saying, "idle hands are the Devil's playthings"? Substitute "terrorist organization's" for "Devil's" and you may start to get the picture. In counties all across the Middle East, there are rather large amounts of youths. Unfortunately, there aren't jobs to keep them all busy. These are men (no, I'm not forgetting you women out there, but this is the Middle East I'm talking about here) who desperately want to work and earn a living. It's a matter of honor. But without an economy able to support their disproportionately large numbers, they are left disaffected. From there it's rather easy for some firebrand or ideologue to come along and convince these youths that the state of their economy (and whatever other woes plague society) are the fault of the Western oppressors. Especially when they offer a salary, as so many terrorist organizations do.

Here's a look at the population pyramid for the Gaza Strip. It's a similar story in countries across the greater Middle East.

In contrast, here is the population pyramid for the United States.

This is why it is so crucial that any plan to combat the type of extremism we are now facing in the Middle East addresses the widespread economic problems facing the region. Most people would rather go to work than blow themselves up at a discotheque. The West can't kill its way into the victory circle. Provide jobs and opportunity however, and suddenly all these disaffected youths who want to remake the world quickly become invested in maintaining the status quo.

How important is this issue? Very. To give an idea of what is looming, I'll end with Saudi Arabia's projected population pyramid for 2050. Again, it's the same all throughout the Middle East. I'll even give a hint- it involves lots and lots of young people looking for purpose in their life. If they can't fulfill that purpose with employment, I guarantee they'll find another outlet; one the West may not like very much. Diplomacy and treaties do help; but any comprehensive Middle East peace plan needs to address the area's core economic needs if it is to be a lasting peace.