In my recent post, Has Qadafi Caught the Spirit?, I wrote that there were mixed signs that Libya’s ruler, Mu’amar Qadafi, was committed to ending his country’s economic and political isolation. In today’s Al-Quds Al-Arabi, it was reported that Libya plans to cut 46,000 government jobs over the next year. As the article notes, Libya has 862,000 government workers, a huge figure when you consider that the country’s entire population is only a little over five million. Libya’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Mu’atuq, stated that some of the positions were to be eliminated through privatization, pushing them into “other productive work.”

Al-Quds also noted that about 462,000 of the abovementioned government workers were in the field of education. Although this might be seen as a positive, being an investment in the country’s future, it actually points to one of the Arab world’s major problems. Although in recent decades Arab countries have significantly increased literacy rates, their universities have excelled at churning out graduates with degrees but no marketable skills. Aside from the economic problems involved, this has led to having societies with a large number of young men handing around with ideals but no jobs, and has contributed significantly to the Islamist resurgence.

Contributed by Kirk H. Sowell of Window on the Arab World, and More!