Globalisation and the Politics of Development in the Middle East

Citation

Shubber, K. (2008), "Globalisation and the Politics of Development in the Middle East", International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 264-266. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538390810901195

Is economic development a function of liberal policies?

Has “globalisation” assisted or hindered developing nations of the world? And, when we look at the impact of globalisation, has the focus been on macro‐economic variables such as imports, exports, employment and investment, or has there been an extension to other fields such as politics and social frameworks?

Also, if we grant that globalisation has affected the politico‐economic landscape of developing nations, is there much evidence to suggest that this effect has differed in accordance with the type of political system?

This book sets itself the challenging task of tackling these major issues. In attempting to answer these questions, the two authors consider the various countries making up the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, stretching from Iran to Mauritania, passing through Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia and others.

Clearly, this is no mean task, due to the sheer diversity found within this region (comprising probably some 450 million people today), not only in terms of language and dialect, but also with regard to economic development, natural wealth, social structure and political system. The authors utilise a raft of economic and social indicators over the 1980s and 1990s, in order to judge the influence of globalisation on nations of this vital and turbulent region.

Link to democratisation

One conclusion seems to be fairly unambiguous in the minds of the two authors, namely the link between economic performance and type of political system. They show that a “direct correlation exists between economic performance and the degree of democracy” that obtains in any given national political economy in this region. In this regard, they stress that “the more open and liberal a polity, the more effective has been its economy in responding to globalisation”.

Quite rightly, the authors explain that any formulation‐cum‐implementation of responses to the unstoppable current of economic globalisation do not depend merely on policies and actions of the state. Probably in equal measure, the effectiveness‐cum‐success of these responses hinges also on organs and mechanisms of civil society. States which have “waged literal or metaphorical wars against their civil societies and autonomous capital … can and sometimes do formulate economic textbook responses to globalisation”.

The authors add: “we are convinced that globalisation should be the starting point for understanding economic change in the region. It is the primary thesis against which all countries of the region are struggling to form responses” (p. xiii).

Four categories

An informative feature of the book is the categorisation of the political systems found within the region. Four types of political systems are expounded in this context:

1. 1.

   Bunker States, where the governing clique rule the country through military/security/party structures that are in turn controlled by alliances of these leaders' families and tribes. Examples include Iraq during Saddam's reign, Libya, and Yemen (p. 99).

2. 2.

   Bully Praetorian States, where the ruling elites are at once both more narrowly and broadly based, e.g. Egypt and Tunisia. Here, the rule rests “almost exclusively on the institutional power of the military/security/party apparatus, but because these elites are not drawn from a clearly identified social formation, they are at least not unrepresentative of their relatively homogenous political communities”.Under these regimes, the State provides the primary under‐pinning, as top rulers have “relatively little incentive to build and maintain ruling coalitions based on their respective political societies. The rulers.. seem content to restrict their extra‐State coalition‐building to the placation of rural and traditional elites” (p. 134).

3. 3.

   Globalising Monarchies, where regimes seem better placed to take advantage of the opportunities of globalisation. Here, “more active private sectors exist, some of which have joint ventures and other constructive relationships with multinational companies … ” Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain come within this group (p. 168).

4. 4.

   Fragmented Democracies, including Turkey, Israel, Iran and Lebanon. A differentiating characteristic of this category is the holding of election, relative freedom of expression, and the actual change of government through the ballot box. The authors recognise, however, that there is a high degree of diversity among these nations, as elections are sometimes indecisive, punctuated by military interventions, or subject to considerable external influence (p. 194).

Critique

Plainly, this book is a “must‐read” for anyone who wishes to understand the “real‐politic” of the region, so as to comprehend the present set‐up of socio‐economic forces playing their part in various corners of this well‐endowed and changing region. While not dwelling too much on history, the authors have succeeded in providing readers with a sufficient background, in order to assimilate prevailing realities.

Over 30 tables and graphs punctuate the eight chapters of the book (as well as their sub‐chapters), furnishing readers with an admirable volume of numerical information on such matters as GNP growth rates of different countries, external debt, military spending, and cross‐border capital flows. Other numerical illustrations cite interesting figures on the human‐development index, poverty levels, oil revenues, and state‐owned enterprises in various countries.

Yet, the book is in urgent need of revision. Since its publication in 2001, this critical region has witnessed some crucial events that need to be assessed with regard to their impact on the socio‐economic‐political landscape.

There is first the enormous increase in oil revenue, engineered by the continual hike in oil prices since the turn of the twenty‐first century, thereby providing huge additional funds for internal economic development, personal consumption, and investment abroad. Then there is the toppling of Saddam's regime in 2003 by USA and British forces, facilitating the removal of Iraq from a “bunker State” into a “fragmented democracy”.

In addition, there have been the terrorist attacks in the USA and Europe, which have significantly affected the region in more ways than one. Then there is the 33‐day war between Israel and Lebanese militia Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, while a slow but discernible trend to hold more elections and recognise the virtues of the ballot box is another significant phenomenon that is still on‐going.