It's definitely way more nuanced than the author suggests. By developed world standards, poverty is not much better than extreme poverty (but fed is better than

It's definitely way more nuanced than the author suggests. By developed world standards, poverty is not much better than extreme poverty (but fed is better than not), many of the stats regarding international commerce and investment came with unforseen social and political consequences, and much of the social progress in the middle east has resulted in the unaffected countries to become more paranoid and governments that are different, but not necessarily much better. But this is an upward trend going for three decades now, let's hope it continues.