Rebellion by the Young and the Unemployed

Again and again, Moammar Gadhafi has blamed the violence in Libya on young people. His claim that they're taking "hallucinogens" supplied by Osama bin Laden may not be credible, but there's no doubt that Libya's youth are in the forefront of protest against his corrupt, tyrannical rule. A high proportion of young people and widespread unemployment have set the stage for a perfect storm in the Middle East and North Africa. The Internet and Al Jazeera have opened the young to the rest of the world and stoked their eagerness and courage to demand major change. But if they succeed, what happens next?  Will the newly empowered inherit stagnant economies that still deny opportunity and frustrate ambition? What's being done to prevent crushed expectations by encouraging entrepreneurship, creating jobs and training a 21st Century workforce?