The Syria conflict was initially part of a wave of uprisings in 2011 known as the Arab Spring, which began in part as a cry for political freedom and more economic opportunity. Fast-forward to today where unemployment in some of these countries is among the highest in the world.
"They are depressingly high if you look at the region as a whole," Sudeep Reddy, an economics reporter for The Wall Street Journal, tells Tell Me More host Michel Martin. "About 25 percent of youth, 1 in 4 people, are unemployed, between the ages of 15 and 24 — and that is actually, probably, undercounting the severity of the problem."
Martin spoke about Arab youth and unemployment with Reddy and Shadi Hamid, director of research for the Brookings Doha Center. What follows is excerpts from the interview: