摘要：In considering why the Middle and North Africa has experienced uniquely acute political and institutional instability amidst ubiquitous global economic strife, this paper examines the abilities of the MENA nations' food subsidy systems to respond and adapt to crisis. More critically, this adaptability is considered through the specific lens of economic complexity, as defined by Clemens (2013) and Hidalgo, et al. (2012). This paper argues that the states of the Middle East and North Africa exhibit economic complexity that is minimal enough to allow volatile civic and political opposition to generate traction, but inadequate to enable more stable transitions through less disruptive institutional channels. The MENA states lie situated in an intermediate zone of complexity that makes them especially vulnerable to large-scale uprisings. Additionally, this paper argues for a central role of complexity science in future analysis of popular dissent both inside and outside the MENA region.
