“Among all world regions, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) holds the worst record for workers’ rights. The index data by the International Trade Union Confederation “ shows that every country in the MENA region has blocked the formation or membership of independent trade unions . In other words, the legal and administrative systems in these countries are deliberately structured to prevent any form of autonomous labor organization. 95% of countries in the region violate the right to strike, and 89% restrict freedom of assembly and speech. Even when rights exist on paper, the actual space to exercise them is closed off. In 84% of MENA countries, workers have no effective access to justice —meaning that when their rights are violated, there is no real legal or institutional recourse. “In 2014, Europe had an average score of 1.84 , suggesting relatively strong protections. But by 2024, the average has fallen to...
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” —Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of the World Order, 1996, p. 51