Tackling extremism a must for economic progress

Last week, Al Ittihad Annual Forum discussed many important issues related to the connection between social development and the positions of various blocs including religious movements. The forum, titled "Religion and Society in The Arab World", focussed on stability, which is a key factor in economic growth and social development. Thus, any extremist acts that jeopardise this stability must have negative impacts on development and investment rates, which would lead to unemployment and a decline in living standards. There are many examples of countries that suffered the negative impacts of instability, such as Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Extremism leads to vandalism, and not just violent vandalism, but undermining the economy through making radical decisions that result in a decline in production, low productivity... [read full story]