Transforming Arab Economies

The changing political landscape in the Arab world has created opportunities for economic transformation by tackling long-standing economic issues. Nevertheless, three years after the onset of political transition, implementing necessary economic policies has proven to be challenging. This paper lays out key elements of economic policy reform for Arab countries in transition.

The changing political landscape in the Arab world has created opportunities for economic transformation by tackling long-standing economic issues. Nevertheless, three years after the onset of political transition, implementing necessary economic policies has proven to be challenging. This paper lays out key elements of economic policy reform for Arab countries in transition.

The modern Arab world is faced with a serious problem in the imbalance between human and natural resources. The Gulf states, with their vast natural resources, are poor in human resources, whereas in Egypt or Jordan the picture is reversed. This study, first published in 1983, considers the range of factors affecting development in the Arab world and examines the broad sectoral resources, the infrastructure for resource development and the range of problems shaping the political economy of Arab advancement. In conclusion, an analysis is made of the existing trends in the transformation of Arab society and ways are suggested in which these trends will develop over the next decade.

Over-reliance on oil challenges the long-term sustainability of an economy. The UAE’s government has placed considerable focus on a comprehensive strategic planning exercise to transform the country’s economic structure from relying heavily on hydrocarbon resources to becoming a knowledge-based economy. Non-oil is to account for 80% of the country’s economy by 2021. From Oil to Knowledge examines the role of this major powerhouse of the Arab World to transform itself into a leader in the adoption of science, technology and innovation to drive economic success on the international stage.In this first book to present and critically evaluate the extent of the UAE’s success in diversifying its economy and implementing the principles and approaches of a Knowledge Economy, the authors identify the achievements of the government to date and the areas of further development. From Oil to Knowledge will be utilized as a guide by policymakers and senior managers to enhance their ability to think strategically towards implementing the pillars of a Knowledge Economy within their own organisations and nation states.

Knowledge has always been central to development. A thousand years ago the Arab civilization led the world in knowledge, prosperity, and development. More generally, the Arab world is currently undergoing a transition on three fronts: 1) a political transition, which seeks to replace authoritarian powers with more democratic ones; 2) a social transition in which equitable programs to protect the poor will substitute for inefficient policies promoting public sector-based employment and the subsidization of basic goods; and 3) an economic transition in favor of more competitive and productive economic regimes. The report focuses on the economic side of this transition. On which areas must leaders of the Arab countries concentrate in order to stimulate growth, create jobs, restore trust, and provide a measure of hope and prosperity for their people? This is a humble effort to try and answer some of these questions in an integrative framework that puts knowledge and innovation-related policies at center stage.

For too long, the economic aspirations of the people in the region, especially young people, have been ignored by leaders in Arab countries and abroad. Competing views as to how best to meet these aspirations are now being debated in the region. The outcome will shape Arab societies for generations to come.

The Arab Uprisings were unexpected events of rare intensity in Middle Eastern history – mass, popular and largely non-violent revolts which threatened and in some cases toppled apparently stable autocracies. This volume provides in-depth analyses of how people perceived the socio-economic and political transformations in three case studies epitomising different post-Uprising trajectories – Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt – and drawing on survey data to explore ordinary citizens’ perceptions of politics, security, the economy, gender, corruption, and trust. The findings suggest the causes of protest in 2010-2011 were not just political marginalisation and regime repression, but also denial of socio-economic rights and regimes failure to provide social justice. Data also shows these issues remain unresolved, and that populations have little confidence governments will deliver, leaving post-Uprisings regimes neither strong nor stable, but fierce and brittle. This analysis has direct implications both for policy and for scholarship on transformations, democratization, authoritarian resilience and ‘hybrid regimes’.

Diwan and Galal looks at the structure and prospects of the Middle East economies after the 2011 Uprisings, focusing on issues of economic growth, inequality, the impact of oil, and the unfolding political transitions. On the growth question, the book looks into the extent of structural transformation of the economy, the political economy reasons for the lack of structural change, and the external conditions in the EU and in the GCC that underpin the lack of structural change. On inequality, the book offers new measures of equality of opportunity in human development and in the job market, and it also reviews the complex political economy of subsidy removal. Regarding natural resources, the volume provides three innovations: connecting the notion of 'oil curse' to the global phenomena of asset bubbles; evidence that resource curse effects do not rise monotonically with the size of the resource rent, but rather, according to an inverted U shape; and an extension of the concept of rent to the other non-oil rents that are also predominant in the region. Finally, the volume places the political transition in the region in a global perspective using various methods – theoretical, comparative, and empirical, and it explores the relationship between democracy in its variety of forms and economic development.