The flow of ideas, people, and commerce across national boundaries has been occurring with breathtaking rapidity in the broader Middle East, as elsewhere. These increasingly dense exchanges have generated new threats and vulnerabilities that have tended to impact women, children, and the poorest members of society disproportionately. At the same time, however, they have given people more resources and opportunities with which to shape their lives and their futures. The Middle East Institute (MEI) Crossing Borders 2010-2011 project focuses on four subjects that are of vital importance to the region's future – migration, education, health, and environment. As numerous studies have found, this future depends greatly on correcting labor market gaps and imbalances; broadening the access to and improving the quality of education and basic health care; and taking better stewardship of the physical environment, especially regarding the management of water resources. Over the next two years, MEI Viewpoints will explore each of these four subjects in depth. This collection of essays is the first of three volumes devoted to Migration and the Arab World. The 19 authors whose essays appear in this first volume address several salient questions: What are the sizes and characteristics of the non-national workforces of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries Which “push” and “pull” factors have driven and continue to drive this phenomenon What effects has labor migration had on the sending and receiving countries, and on the migrants, themselves What lessons or tentative conclusions can be drawn from the policies and practices of sending and receiving countries Through the discussion of these and other questions, the contours of the future – and future impact – of labor and migration in the Middle East begin to emerge. Their precise features will decisively shape the region's unique economic, political, and national destinies. Source: Viewpoints Migration and the Gulf