18 and Counting: Political and Social Unrest Ensnare the Globe

Egypt and Tunisia were not the only countries hit by severe unrest. They are just the highest profile cases in a list of many countries which experienced unrest because of deteriorating economic troubles - and that is for the first month of 2011 alone.

The fear of a chain-reaction of unrest is far from baseless. Global unemployment remains at record highs, with widening income inequality adding to social strains.

“Indeed, we face the prospect of a ‘lost generation’ of young people, destined to suffer their whole lives from worse employment and social conditions,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a speech in Singapore at the beginning of February. “Creating jobs must be a top priority not only in the advanced economies, but also in many poorer countries.”

Energy prices are rising swiftly, reflecting rapid growth in the emerging economies. Food prices are also rising with potentially devastating consequences for low-income countries. Already, raw sugar futures have climbed to their highest level in three decades and white sugar prices reached a record peak.

Together, these increases are beginning to feed into headline inflation.
These economic factors could be the spark to set off a powder keg of long endured repression, impoverishment and inequality and make 2011 the year of global discontent.

An Israeli border police officer fires a teargas canister during clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem January 19, 2011.

A protester argues with a policeman during a protest rally outside Greece's high court in Athens January 20, 2011. The government decided not to renew the contracts of part-time workers and contractors, so they took the case to the country's high court, which was expected to rule on whether the decision was legitimate.

Riot police block protesters during a demonstration in downtown Algiers, January 22, 2011. A small group of Algerian opposition supporters trying to hold a banned protest clashed with police in the capital and several people were injured, protest organizers and official media said on Saturday.

Riot police officers stand guard near the Congress building in Tegucigalpa, January 25, 2011, in preparation for protests by opposition groups on Thursday. The groups will protest against the government of President Porfirio Lobo, who will begin his second year of his four-year term as president.

Protesters flee from tear gas fire during clashes in Cairo January 28, 2011. Police and demonstrators fought running battles on the streets of Cairo on Friday in a fourth day of unprecedented protests by tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule.

Protesters march during an anti-government demonstration in Radfan, a district in the southern Yemeni province of Lahej January 27, 2011. Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of Sanaa on Thursday to demand a change of government, inspired by the unrest that has ousted Tunisia's leader.

People pay their respects at a portrait of Ziver Veizi, one of three people who died in last week's deadly riots, during a march in Tirana January 28, 2011. Albania's opposition Socialist Party will hold a march on Friday to mark the shooting deaths of three anti-government protesters a week ago despite repeated calls by the international community to cancel it.

Villagers throw rocks at a police van during a clash in Munshiganj January 31, 2011. Bangladeshi police fired teargas and rubber bullets on Monday to disperse angry villagers who set fire to a police camp during protests against a government plan to acquire their land for a new airport, witnesses said.

Villagers armed with sticks clash with the police in Munshiganj district, 20 km (12 miles) south of Dhaka January 31, 2011. Bangladeshi police fired teargas and rubber bullets on Monday to disperse angry villagers who set fire to a police camp during protests against a government plan to acquire their land for a new airport, witnesses said.

Students march during demonstration in Rome December 22, 2010. Thousands of students gathered in Rome to protest a new university law on Wednesday as police blocked off large parts of the city centre to prevent a repeat of the violent clash at a similar march week ago. The new education law, which the government says will strengthen Italy's crumbling university system but which critics say will merely cut funding

A man ducks a jet of water from a water cannon in front of riot guards during a student protest against Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in Caracas December 23, 2010. Venezuelan security forces fired a water cannon and rubber bullets on Thursday to disperse hundreds of students protesting against a new law tightening the government's control over universities.

Demonstrators gather as policemen stand guard in front of city hall during a general strike at Punta Arenas city, some 3,150 km (1,957 miles) south of Santiago January 17, 2011. Demonstrators have been on strike for six days in protest against announced cuts to natural gas subsidies. The banner reads "Not to the 3% (of the natural gas value), Piranha Pinera (Chile's President Sebastian Pinera)

Students try to protect themselves with banners as police use water cannons to disperse them during a protest against the High Education Board (YOK) in Ankara January 19, 2011.

Protesters from opposition parties and labour unions shout anti-government slogans during a demonstration against what they say are worsening economic conditions, after Friday prayers in Amman January 21, 2011

Demonstrators burn a vehicle during a protest in Karchana town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh January 21, 2011. Hundreds of stone-hurling farmers protested against the takeover of their land for two proposed power plants on Friday, police said, spotlighting challenges the country faces in building infrastructure.

23.7%

Tunisian protesters pull away barbed wire to let through the protesters on the other side of the police barricade near government offices in the Kasbah, the old city of Tunis, January 27, 2011. Police blocked several roads leading up to the Kasbah in the Tunisian capital Tunis on Thursday after a day of violent clashes on Wednesday January 26 between demonstrators and security forces who fired tear gas and left several people injured.

Demonstrators play drums during a march protesting against the raising of student tuition fees, London January 29, 2011.

Turkish Cypriots take part in a rally against economic austerity measures in Nicosia January 28, 2011. Turkish Cypriot authorities have recently announced moves to cut salaries in its public sector and embark on a programme of privatization