The Syrian war and the subsequent emergence and spread of the Islamic State (ISIS) have transformed the Levant in ways one could not have imagined prior to 2011. As the numbers of dead and of refugees and internally displaced kept climbing, and as families were torn apart and neighborhoods were...

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has made steady progress in terms of the World Bank's twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. During the 2000s, the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day declined in all regional economies, except...

The political and social upheavals that followed the Arab Spring of 2011 continue to dominate economic activity and near term prospects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Although political transitions bring promises of greater political and economic freedom, in MENA the process remains...

In 2013, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional growth is expected to slow to 3.8 percent from 6.1 percent in 2012. Growth deceleration into 2013 reflects a return to more sustainable growth in oil exporting countries, which reached 7.4 percent in 2012. Egypt's growth is expected to weaken...

This note is based on report entitled Looking Ahead after a Year in Transition that was issued by the Chief Economist s office of the Middle East and North Africa region of the World Bank. Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen are given special attention because each of them experienced a revolution...