A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa

A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa
Author: Joel Beinin
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2020-12-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1503614484

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.

Oil and the political economy in the Middle East

Oil and the political economy in the Middle East
Author: Martin Beck
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2021-08-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1526149087

The downhill slide in the global price of crude oil, which started mid-2014, had major repercussions across the Middle East for net oil exporters, as well as importers closely connected to the oil-producing countries from the Gulf. Following the Arab uprisings of 2010 and 2011, the oil price decline represented a second major shock for the region in the early twenty-first century – one that has continued to impose constraints, but also provided opportunities. Offering the first comprehensive analysis of the Middle Eastern political economy in response to the 2014 oil price decline, this book connects oil market dynamics with an understanding of socio-political changes. Inspired by rentierism, the contributors present original studies on Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The studies reveal a large diversity of country-specific policy adjustment strategies: from the migrant workers in the Arab Gulf, who lost out in the post-2014 period but were incapable of repelling burdensome adjustment policies, to Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, who have never been able to fulfil the expectation that they could benefit from the 2014 oil price decline. With timely contributions on the COVID-19-induced oil price crash in 2020, this collection signifies that rentierism still prevails with regard to both empirical dynamics in the Middle East and academic discussions on its political economy.

Challenges of Growth and Globalization in the Middle East and North Africa

Challenges of Growth and Globalization in the Middle East and North Africa
Author: Mr.Hamid R Davoodi
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2003-09-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781589062290

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

Saudi Arabia in Transition

Saudi Arabia in Transition
Author: Bernard Haykel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2015-01-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1316194191

Making sense of Saudi Arabia is crucially important today. The kingdom's western province contains the heart of Islam, and it is the United States' closest Arab ally and the largest producer of oil in the world. However, the country is undergoing rapid change: its aged leadership is ceding power to a new generation, and its society, dominated by young people, is restive. Saudi Arabia has long remained closed to foreign scholars, with a select few academics allowed into the kingdom over the past decade. This book presents the fruits of their research as well as those of the most prominent Saudi academics in the field. This volume focuses on different sectors of Saudi society and examines how the changes of the past few decades have affected each. It reflects new insights and provides the most up-to-date research on the country's social, cultural, economic and political dynamics.

Middle East and North Africa Economic Monitor, October 2018

Middle East and North Africa Economic Monitor, October 2018
Author: Rabah Arezki
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 98
Release: 2018-10-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464813671

"After a sharp fall in 2017, economic growth in MENA is projected to rebound to 3.1 percent in 2018, thanks to the positive global outlook, oil prices stabilizing at relatively higher levels, stabilization policies and reforms, and recovery and reconstruction as conflicts recede. The outlook for MENA remains positive, and the growth rebound is expected to gain momentum over the next two years, exceeding 3 percent in 2020. While stabilization policies have helped economies adjust in recent years, .a second phase of reforms is needed should be transformative if the region is to reach its potential and create jobs for hundred million young people who will enter the labor market in coming decades. In this report, we explore the role that public-private partnerships can play. not only in providing an alternative source of financing but in helping change the role of the state from the main provider of employment to an enabler of private sector activity. Studies have shown that the gap between MENA economies and fast-growing ones is the performance of the services sector. The disruptive technology offers new opportunities for boosting private-sector-led growth through enhancement of high-tech jobs in the services sector. The report argues that combining the region's fast-growing pool of university graduates and a heavy penetration of social media and smartphone, could serve as the foundation for a digital sector that could create much-needed private sector jobs for the youth over the next decade."

Money, Markets, and Monarchies

Money, Markets, and Monarchies
Author: Adam Hanieh
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2018-09-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1108429149

An original and empirically grounded analysis of the Gulf monarchies and their role in shaping the political economy of the Middle East.

Egypt And The Politics Of U.s. Economic Aid

Egypt And The Politics Of U.s. Economic Aid
Author: Marvin G. Weinbaum
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2019-03-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0429711832

The massive U.S. economic aid program for Egypt initiated in 1975 resulted in a bilateral aid relationship shaped by the interaction of political and development goals. In this study of the program's origins and consequences, Professor Weinbaum describes its scope and identifies the constraints that delayed and limited program implementation. The author discusses the modest U.S. leverage designed to encourage economic reforms and argues that far-reaching reforms could only be attained through a major change in Egypt's political structure. He finds that, despite its failure to make Egypt more economically self-reliant, U.S. assistance has enabled the country to attain a level of consumption and development planning possible with no other alternative. The profit to the United States results from the regime's moderate foreign policies and compatible views on strategic threats to the region. Despite the mutual benefits of this aid program, Professor Weinbaum concludes that the United States must display greater sensitivity to Egypt's political and economic problems if the "special relationship" is to survive through the 1980s.