The skyrocketing Arab oil revenues of the 1970s have triggered tremendous socioeconomic forces in the Arab world. Observers have extensively studied the financial and geopolitical aspects of Arab oil, but generally have ignored the human and social repercussions stimulated by the oil wealth.
Saad Eddin Ibrahim is professor of sociology at The American University in Cairo and head of Arab affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. He is the author of numerous publications, including Kissinger and the Middle East (1975) and Trends of Arab Public Opinion Toward Arab Unity (1980).