December 1989 Number 182

CONTENTS •COVER STORY* 5 The magnitude of the global environmental crisis is beginning to dawn on public opinion in the Middle East. How is the region being specifically affected and what is being done to forestall the crisis?

COVER STORY THE MIDDLE EAST'S ECO-CRISIS

•POLITICS*

n Jordan’s first elections in 22 restless and looking towards years provided an unexpected Iran surprise with the strong 16 Turgut Ozal becomes showing o f Moslem Turkey’s new president but is fundamentalists unlikely to remain a 13 Lebanon has a president at figurehead last, but his election may 17 Both the Ethiopian and drive the country further down Somali regimes are in deep the road to partition political trouble 14 Libya is experiencing more 18 Cypriots are becoming strange convolutions as

Colonel Gaddafi demands increasingly uneasy about

Britain’s anomalous sovereign compensation for Italy’s years base areas on the island of colonial rule 20 Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto is 15 Soviet Moslems in Azerbaijan looking very insecure are becoming increasingly 21 Politics in Brief

World leaders are starting to take heed of warnings about impending environmental catastrophe. In the Middle East, the crisis is already under way with desertification, pollution and diminishing water resources becoming a major problem. What are the problems faced by the region, and what is it doing to cope? P ageS

•RUSINESS AND FINANCE* 23 The expatriate labour force military involvement . . .

remains unexpectedly stable 30 . . . while the domestic in Saudi Arabia, but its economy struggles to recover composition is changing from war with Iran 25 Britain’s offset investment 32 Morocco hopes to become programme is finally beginning to take shape self-sufficient in foodstuffs through better utilisation of

26 Turkish-Soviet trade relations water resources are emerging as a major factor 33 Personal Investment: the in Middle East commerce heady world of Bahrain’s 28 Further details of Iraq’s margin trading accounts overseas investment in manufacturing reveal disturbing evidence of

34 Business travel

35 Products and services

36 Business in Brief

•ROOKS*

39 The strategic balance in the Middle East; Political stability; Books in Brief

•MOSAIC*

43 The latest Aga Khan awards for architecture are announced in Cairo 45 The new cultural centre in

Riyadh nears completion but questions remain 46 Inshallah another Boris or

Martina - the search for a Gulf tennis superstar is on 48 An exhibition on the people of the Caucasus opens in London 49 Women o f Sand and Myrrh -

a new book by Hanan al Shaykh

JORDAN GOES TO THE POLLS For the first time since 1967, Jordan has elected a new parliament - and for the first time ever, women were allowed to vote. King Hussein has pledged to continue along the road to democratisation. But the big question is how he will cope with the unexpectedly strong showing of the Moslem fundamentalists.

Page 11

THE AGA KHAN AWARDS

The 1989 Aga Khan awards for architecture were recently announced in Cairo. In the past the jury has given particular attention to schemes that might inspire similar efforts elsewhere, and this year’s selection proved no exception. Page 43

Cover photograph: United Nations Environment Programme

The Middle East December 1989 3