nships between Israel and the WBGS. The most
serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment;
unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by
1995 it had risen to over 20%. Since 1997 Israel's use of
comprehensive closures has decreased and, in 1998, Israel
implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other
security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor.
These changes fueled an almost three-year long economic recovery in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in
1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the
outbreak of Palestinian violence, which triggered tight Israeli
closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of
trade and labor movements.

Western Sahara:
Western Sahara, a territory poor in natural
resources and lacking sufficient rainfall, depends on pastoral
nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of
income for the population. Most of the food for the urban population
must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are
controlled by the Moroccan Government. Incomes and standards of
living are substantially below the Moroccan level.

World:
Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to
4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in
Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries,
and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US
economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5%
in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US
accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced
20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world,
continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew
at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15
successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations
experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations
also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing
population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the
nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is
steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods,
funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often
finds its control over resources slippi