The recent suicide of an unemployed 24-year-old man in Tunisia -- who electrocuted himself by touching a high-voltage electrical pole after shouting "no for misery, no for unemployment" — and the ensuing unrest are signs of the frustration and despair felt by the country's youth as Tunisia's economy slows.

[Editor's note: Analysts of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace are included among contributors to Babylon & Beyond. Carnegie is renowned for its political, economic and social analysis of the Middle East. The views represented are the author's own.]

Even as the level of education among job seekers in Tunisia has improved, the government has failed to make policies guaranteeing enough job creation to absorb new entrants to the labor market, especially among those with university degrees.

As a result, Tunisia has one of the highest levels of unemployment among Arab states: more than 14% overall and 30% among those between age 15 and 29.

Today, analysts of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, including the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, became contributors to Babylon & Beyond. Carnegie is renowned for its political, economic and social analysis of the Middle East, and will enhance Babylon & Beyond's eclectic mix of news, features and analysis.

Neither the Los Angeles Times nor Babylon & Beyond endorses the positions of the analysts, nor does Carnegie endorse the political positions of The Times or its blog. The Carnegie Endowment does not take institutional positions; the views represented are the author's own.

-- Bruce Wallace, foreign editor, Los Angeles Times