This review of population policies in Middle Eastern and North African countries complements the earlier works in the State of the Art series by Sabagh (1970) on the demography of the Middle East, and by Bonine (1976) on urban studies in the Middle East. It also interrelates with the work by Van Dusen (1976) on the study of women in the Middle East since population policies often directly and indirectly affect the status of women. The emphasis will be on discussion of current population policies, and where relevant, how these have changed during recent years. A broad definition of population policy is used, i.e., the discussion is not limited to the initiation and expansion of family planning activities, while recognizing that the provision and availability of fertility regulation supplies and services in public and private sectors constitute a major facet of many population policies.

The international community is witnessing the resurgence of an old, yet new entity in its midst—the Persian Gulf. Since this decade began, the October War, the Oil embargo, the energy crisis, the massive American arms sales in the region, the concomitant presence of substantial numbers of American personnel and the expanding roles of Iran and Saudi Arabia have all forced this area to the center of international politics and economics. The new perceptions which have been created by these developments have focused on the modern Persian Gulf as a major source of oil, a subsystem of competing local nationalisms, an area of superpower rivalry, an insatiable market for consumer products, a pivotal factor in regional and international conflicts and of course a fascinating case study for social science researchers. The recent outpouring of studies, reports and background summaries testifies to the many facets of the region which are of interest to policy makers, businessmen and academicians.