Angry Young Men of Asia and Africa to Shape the Coming World?

Most of those new babies entering our world will be born in Asia or Africa, and into countries that are poor or developing. According to a report by the United Nations Population Division, by the year 2030, Africa's population will be roughly equivalent to the population of North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean - combined. The population of sub-Saharan Africa could double or even triple in the next 40 years.

That's a lot of new potential angry young men, striving for dignity but facing a world of hopelessness. _TheNational

This is the human tide which is likely to sweep in "The Coming Anarchy" which Robert Kaplan has written so much about. Great masses of uneducated third world youth, often led by militant fanatics, sweeping across the planet out of Africa and Asia across Europe and beyond.

Of those seven billion humans on our planet, nearly half are under the age of 24.

In many of the poorest and developing countries, those numbers are even more stark, with 60 to 70 per cent of the population falling into that age group, particularly in poor and developing countries unable to cope with the demands of young populations. For example, three out of four Nigerians are under 35. In Yemen, the numbers are even more stark. Three out of four are 25 or under. Across the Middle East and North Africa region, two out of three people are 29 or younger.

We are currently living amid the largest cohort of youth in human history.

...The world over the next decade will be defined by the Angry Young Man, born amid this historic baby boom, and now entering the netherworld between youth and adulthood, unable to find a job, angry at his government, hyper-aware of the inequalities around him, frustrated by corruption, and connected to the outside world through social networking sites and satellite television. From Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis to Tahrir Square in Cairo, from Athens and Tehran to Delhi and Karachi, the angry young man, fist pumping the air, has become a feature of our world.

... _National

The fact that most of these youth will lack the cognitive aptitude to be trained for roles in the brave new technological world of the future, will not help global or regional stability.

The advanced world will be suffering from a shortage of skilled technological manpower at the same time that a tsunami of uneducable third world youth will be breaking down the doors looking for opportunity and room to expand.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.