This assignment calls for you to select two Less Developed Countries (LDCs) and assess if there are any factors that are common to both as far as their development is concerned. The countries that you will be assessing are Egypt and Syria. 

It may help you to be familiar with the concept of poor governance, because this often plays a significant part in why a country is underdeveloped. According to the World Bank, governance is defined as how power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development. Therefore, if good governance is synonymous with sound development management, then poor governance means a government has failed to deliver desirable outcomes for its people. This could mean that officials are corrupt, not transparent with their decisions, unqualified to make decisions in the first place, or prone to make decisions based on racism, tribalism or ethnicity all of which are very common practices in LCDs.

The most common factor used to decide whether countries are underdeveloped nations is through the Human Development Index. Countries that are underdeveloped in nature offer poor health care, few educational opportunities, a low average life expectancy, a low number of job opportunities, few recreational facilities, poor economic growth, a low standard of living and a poverty-stricken life.

Instructions:

Write at least a six-page paper, in which you:

Identify the two LDCs (Syria and Egypt), which you will compare and assess. Explain why you chose these two countries.
Analyze the features that the LDCs have in common using at least five of the following nine factors (clearly label the five factors using headings):
geography
extractive institutions
governmental corruption
internal or external conflicts
shaky financial systems
unfair judicial systems
ethnic, racial or tribal disparities
lack or misuse of natural resources
closed (statist) economies
Use at least 8 credible sources. Wikipedia, encyclopedias, dictionaries, blogs and other material that does not qualify as reputable academic source work at the college level. Do not use sources that are older than seven years.