GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (March 19, 2018) – The Marshall Center is hosting the European Security Seminar – South (ESS-S 18-06) “Demographic Change and the Youth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region – Issues of Human or National Security?” from March 19 to 23.
This one-week seminar is designed to examine the threats to Europe emanating from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and to develop appropriate responses to regional security challenges.
The European Security Seminar – South (ESS-S) 2018 is about the implications of demographic change in the MENA region on the youth, and it investigates into the impacts on human, national and regional security.
Sixty percent of the MENA population is under the age of 30. It is clear that the future of the region belongs to them. They inherit the economic, political, cultural, security environment from the preceding generation.
The Arab uprisings in 2011, largely organized by this young generation, for the first time brought to light their demands for a future in dignity, most importantly an economic future, and political participation. Seven years later, these demands still remain on the table. Far worse, youth in war-torn societies like Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, is a lost generation, which will find it hard to rebuild their countries.
The first European Security Seminar South was held in 2016. The success of this seminar and its counterpart European Security Seminar-East is the catalyst for a one-week seminar examining the Arctic Region this year.