Political Economies of the Middle East and North Africa

Political Economies of the Middle East and North Africa PDF

Author: Robert Springborg

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-03-16

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1509535616

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Despite its oil wealth, the Middle East and North Africa is economically stagnating. Growth rates are comparatively unfavorable and insufficient to substantially improve citizens’ lives. Whether this economic inertia can be overcome or will continue into the indefinite future is a vital question that confronts both the region and the world. In this book leading Middle East scholar Robert Springborg discusses the economic future of this region by examining the national and regional political causes of its contemporary underperformance. Overgrown, weak MENA states, he explains, have been unable to escape their unfavorable historical legacies. “Limited access orders” and the deep states based in the means of coercion that underpin them undermine state capacities and constrain beneficial, autonomous political and economic activity. Increasingly challenged by their populations, MENA states face the daunting and so far unmet challenge of diversifying non-sustainable, rentier political economies away from direct or indirect dependence on oil and gas revenues. Stagnation of those revenues and failure to generate alternative income sources, combined with rapid population growth, presents the region with an economic challenge that can only be overcome by profound political change.

A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa

A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa PDF

Author: Joel Beinin

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2020-12-22

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 1503614484

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This book offers the first critical engagement with the political economy of the Middle East and North Africa. Challenging conventional wisdom on the origins and contemporary dynamics of capitalism in the region, these cutting-edge essays demonstrate how critical political economy can illuminate both historical and contemporary dynamics of the region and contribute to wider political economy debates from the vantage point of the Middle East. Leading scholars, representing several disciplines, contribute both thematic and country-specific analyses. Their writings critically examine major issues in political economy—notably, the mutual constitution of states, markets, and classes; the co-constitution of class, race, gender, and other forms of identity; varying modes of capital accumulation and the legal, political, and cultural forms of their regulation; relations among local, national, and global forms of capital, class, and culture; technopolitics; the role of war in the constitution of states and classes; and practices and cultures of domination and resistance. Visit politicaleconomyproject.org for additional media and learning resources.

The Political and Economic Challenges of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa

The Political and Economic Challenges of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa PDF

Author: David Ramin Jalilvand

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-11-22

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1351783483

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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are in disarray, and shifts in the field of energy have the potential to drastically affect the course of political and economic developments in the region. Declining oil prices, skyrocketing domestic demand, the rise of unconventional oil and natural gas production in North America, as well as shifting patterns of global energy trade all put severe pressures on both producing and importing countries in the MENA region. Policy-makers are facing fundamental challenges in light of the duality of grand transformations in (geo)politics and energy. Changes in the field of energy require substantial political and economic reforms, affecting the very fabric of sociopolitical arrangements. At the same time, the MENA region’s geopolitical volatility makes any such reforms extremely risky. Including contributions by academics and analysts from both inside and outside the MENA region, this volume explores the changes in global and regional energy, the impact of changing international energy dynamics on politics and economies in the MENA region, and the challenges that will result. This is essential reading for researchers, postgraduates, and professionals in Middle Eastern and North African politics, global energy governance and regionalism.

The State and Global Change

The State and Global Change PDF

Author: Hassan Hakimian

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9780700713660

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A re-thinking of the main issues, revolving around the themes of the rationale and strategies for reform, the process and its outcomes, and the nature of the state in the changing global setting.

The Economics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

The Economics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) PDF

Author: Joseph Pelzman

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company

Published: 2012-06-26

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9813108029

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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a large, complex, and diverse region, which faces a wide range of economic issues. The MENA group includes Algeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. This book uses analytical tools drawn from the trade, labor, finance, and development literature to critically analyze and compare these countries' economic policies. The approach taken in this book is to focus on the economic policies and institutional arrangements which have evolved in MENA and which may serve to explain the differences in each country's economic performance. The key objective of the book is to unravel the context-specific variety of growth-promoting policies within MENA rather than focus on specific countries. This book stresses that the poor performance of Arab MENA can be chiefly explained by their aversion to a Western paradigm of market economics. In the advanced industrial countries and in Israel, “globalization” is largely viewed in economic terms — the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital across borders. In the Arab MENA, however, “globalization” is viewed in largely ideological terms and has been regarded as a new version of imperialism. Consequently, the Arab MENA region remains one of the most un-globalized regions in the world. The book serves as both a textbook and a summary of the very large literature on MENA. It examines the following economic realities of the region and compares them across the MENA economies: Technology gap and comparative developmentThe value of education and human capital developmentWater and food securityThe economics and politics of oilPopulation growth, role of gender, and labor mobilityThe role of the state as economic actorThe economic value of democracyThe prospects for regional integration

Political and Socio-Economic Change in the Middle East and North Africa

Political and Socio-Economic Change in the Middle East and North Africa PDF

Author: Roksana Bahramitash

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-04-29

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1137481420

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Political and Socio-Economic Change in the Middle East and North Africa examines the shortcomings of the economic development policies in the region before and after the Arab uprisings. Many MENA countries tried to pursue neoliberal policies to boost economic growth. However, the outcome was associated with rising and disproportionate unemployment among the youth and women. The focal point of the book is the role of gender and the ways in which policies translate into economic outcomes. Particular attention is paid to women's entrepreneurship, especially as owners of small and medium enterprises, which, as the authors argue, can potentially reduce unemployment and poverty for the population as a whole. The book offers perspectives on wholesome policies that take account of issues concerning gender and youth and, thus, contribute to lower unemployment and reduced poverty and inequity.

The State and Global Change

The State and Global Change PDF

Author: Hassan Hakimian

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-11

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1000143996

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Economic liberalisation and reform are widely considered as the favourite remedies for the declining economic fortunes of the Middle Eastern and North African states in the past two decades. International economic institutions have been among the main advocates of transition to market-led economies in the region and a force contributing to its realisation. This has placed the state at the centre of the proposed transformations, acting both as an instrument of, and an obstacle to, change. With attempts at liberalisation worldwide spanning over twenty years, the time is ripe for a re-evaluation of its premises and outcome. The essays in this volume debate the political economy of transition and reforms in the Middle East and North Africa, drawing on interdisciplinary approaches and outlooks involving international, regional and national levels of analysis. The three central themes of the book are the rationale and strategies for reform, the processes and outcomes, and the nature of the state in the changing global setting.

Combining Economic and Political Development

Combining Economic and Political Development PDF

Author: Giacomo Luciani

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2017-01-23

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 9004336451

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Since 2011, democratic transitions in the Middle East and North Africa have mostly failed to consolidate and have been hindered by the difficult economic heritage of previous authoritarian governments. Yet newly established democratic governments must deliver on the expectations of their people, especially the poorer strata, otherwise disillusionment may open the door to restoration of authoritarian rule. Can democracy succeed? Various ideas for economic policies that may help consolidate the early democratisation process are proposed in this volume, while major obstacles on the way to democratic success are also highlighted. Contributors include: Alissa Amico, Laura El-Katiri, Philippe Fargues, Bassam Fattouh, Steffen Hertog, Giacomo Luciani, Samir Makdisi, Adeel Malik, Bassem Snaije, Robert Springborg, and Eckart Woertz.

A Political Economy of the Middle East

A Political Economy of the Middle East PDF

Author: Melani Cammett

Publisher: Westview Press

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780813349381

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A Political Economy of the Middle East is the most comprehensive analysis of developments in the political economy of the region over the past several decades, examining the interaction of economic development processes, state systems and policies, and social actors in the Middle East. The fourth edition, with new authors Melani Cammett and Ishac Diwan, has been thoroughly revised, with two new introductory chapters that provide an updated framework with which to understand and study the many changes in demography, education, labor markets, urbanization, water and agriculture, and international labor migration in the recent years. The new edition also includes: a new chapter that charts the political economy of the Gulf states and, in particular, the phenomenal growth of oil economies; a new chapter on the rise of "crony capitalism;" and increased coverage of the changes in civil society and social movements in the region, including an exploration of the causes, dynamics, consequences, and aftermath of the Arab uprisings.