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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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Comparing the countries from the Middle East in terms of their political and economic systems isn't a boring task. This may save the investors thousands and millions in the future. The point is that some of these countries pass though a period of intensive internal reforms, periods when usually the social tensions are high as are the chances of redistribution of properties. Talking about the economic picture that illustrates the Middle Eats region, we'll focus on three major international indexes, which can give us clearer idea about the economic risks for investors in any of the countries.

For several reasons such comparison can't be used as immediate practical advice because many countries don't allow foreign nationals to buy properties and settle there permanently. Although given the predominant authoritarian character of the political systems in the region such privileges can be granted very easy. Given the economic differentiation among the countries in the Middle East, the investors won't take the same risks buying in the UAE instead of Yemen, although in the later the properties may seem more affordable.

The first index we'll have in mind when we compare different countries from the region is the purchase power parity expressed in US$. It's obvious that the oil and gas exports make substantial difference between different nations, even if they share common culture, language and history. The point in using this criterion for comparison is that countries below $9,000 per capita per year are usually characterized with higher level of social tensions and are potential spots for political violence. With the notable exception of Israel, only countries with substantial oil reserves I the region enjoy such high living standards, which doesn't mean that the oil as such is a sufficient prerequisite for social wellbeing. Iran with huge oil reserves because of its large population is still below the level of $9,000 and given the population growth rate it isn't certain that this country will surpass this level in a near future.

Saudi Arabia, where the population growth rate is even higher than Iran, may soon slip below this symbolic threshold. The other countries of the region without substantial oil incomes score badly, even the countries like Morocco, which try to attract foreign capitals as much as possible. In this sense, even if there is some appropriate legislative framework, the safe residential investment will mean relocating to countries like the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. The countries with less than $3,000 per capital like Djibouti, Eritrea, Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen should be avoided.

Another important factor determining the level of potential social and political tension is the GINI index, which illustrates the level of egalitarian distribution of the national wealth. For reference Canada considered as more egalitarian society has an index of 31, although the United States, considered as less egalitarian are given 40. Everything else being equal, countries with higher GINI index are more endangered by social tensions. Where stands the Middle Eastern region according to this index? It seems that the egalitarian culture plays important role because these countries in general don't show any substantial discrepancy in terms of wealth distribution. It's clear that if people have to choose only one, they'll prefer the equality rather than liberty. Morocco and Tunisia where the authorities care about the foreign investors show higher GINI index, which makes any investment more risky in mid-term.

The third criterion we'll use to illustrate the economic picture in the region is the UN Human Development index. If the first two indexes show static positions of any country, this one illustrates also some dynamic factors that will determine its future position as well. According to this index, the Middle East region falls behind the leading nations in the world. Even the richest countries in the Gulf can't convert their economic might into an adequate social development. On the other hand, the poorest regional countries are on the bottom of the human development list.

Generally speaking, the Middle East with some prominent exceptions isn't a region where foreigners should look first. Almost any country need in one sense or another to improve its image in order to compete within the larger globalizing world.

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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Middle East.