Structural Impediments to Economic Globalization in the Middle East

Abstract

There has been a basic tension between the stated objectives of Middle Eastern leaders to integrate their countries into the world economy, on the one hand, and the actual, tangible levels of the integration, on the other. Kamrava analyzes these internal impediments, arguing that the pervasiveness of authoritarian practices and political structures in the Middle East and North Africa significantly undermines prospects for greater levels of international economic integration.