The Social Basis  Sustainable Ecosystem Under-developmofent in South Mediterranean Arab  Countries, and the Way Out

MOHAMED NABIL GAMIE

 Department of Rural Sociology, Alexandria University, Egypt

IMPORTANT CONCLUSIONS

·         <!--[endif]-->Planned land reclamation policy will never be able to spread the Egyptian population into the desert. Thus, the policy of extirpation and relocation  سياسة الاقتلاع وإعادة التركيب of  significant services and structures must be adopted. The authors estimated that moving Alexandria University alone from Alexandria to the desert, and with no cost on government, will relieve Alexandria from 200,000 of its inhabitants. Imagine what will happen if we move most Egyptian universities to form new university towns in the desert? Also imagine what will happen if we move government institutions from Cairo to the desert to form a new Egyptian Political Capital? Certainly Cairo will be one of the most favorable tourist capitals in the world.

<!--Basic measures necessary for viable ecosystem development should include each of the following: (1) Specification of new socio-economic regions particularly with regard to Upper Egypt. (2) Implementation of strong measures of decentralization, and encouraging governorates and regions to compete in pursuit of attaining specific criteria of development. (3) Strengthening the role of government focusing on supervision and control, technical and scientific support of local administrations and the implementation of local governance with full powers and resources. (4) Strong intervention for correcting market failures and particularly in favor of the interests of the poor and clean environment.

<!--Sustainability, the new character acquired by development, has given the latter an ability for ever-lasting permanence, even in the face of globalization. Development and globalization have been considered by some scholars as two diametrically opposed paradigms. In fact, these scholars claim that the development paradigm has successfully fulfilled its mission and that it has presently given way to globalization. Thus, the two paradigms are considered mutually exclusive as the latter is a substitute for the former.

The present author, however, believes in the normal coexistence of development and globalization. They both recognize the principal of diversity within unity. The elastic principals of sustainable development are adaptable to suit different underdeveloped socio-political systems. Likewise, the mechanisms of globalization require diverse integrated specialization in different regions of the world. There is very little that globalization can do to hinder the implementation of sustainable development ideology in the Arab world. Only political will, committed and faithful leadership and dynamic institutions can successfully launch the war on Arab socio-economic stagnation by enabling the canons of sustainability. These canons include self-reliance, system preservation and integrity, empowering human and social capital, freedom, democracy, popular initiative and participation, decentralization, human and environmental values, local governance rather than just local administration, and adoption of the socio-cultural perspective of development rather than just entertaining static material and economic indicators. Only then, Arab development will be a sustainable self-reliant social movement.