Paul Rogers
Introduction
The Arab Awakening stutters on, with progress in some countries and repression in others. Meanwhile, severe food shortages in East Africa, due partly to a sustained drought, lead to some parts of Somalia being designated famine areas, echoing problems back in the 1980s and even the 1970s. Many factors are contributing to the plethora of problems across the Middle East and North and East Africa, but economic and environmental trends continue, with the risk that the present-day issues may eventually be seen as markers for even more serious problems in the coming decades.