Economic Development and Political Reform

The Impact of External Capital on the Middle East

Bradley Louis Glasser, teaches Middle Eastern Studies, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, US

Economic Development and Political Reform addresses critical trends in the Middle Eastern political economy in the 1980s and 1990s and builds upon the cross-regional political science literature concerning political and economic reforms in the developing world. The book argues that external capital has had a decisive impact on economic and political development in the region.

‘For those readers who have pondered the question of why, despite external economic aid and revenues from hydrocarbons, many Middle Eastern countries have seen little progress in either economic liberalization or democratization since the 1980s, this book offers an insightful thesis. A number of recent international events, most notably the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the resulting war on terrorism, make a number of Bradley Louis Glasser’s arguments worth reviewing. Glasser wrote this book prior to these events; however, the author gives the audience an important lesson in understanding what happens in countries where entrenched poor public policies result in failed political, economic, and social reforms. . . This is a solid and thought-provoking volume for those in the field of emerging markets and Middle Eastern studies, along with policymakers.’
– Helen El Mallakh, The Journal of Energy and Development

‘Bradley Glasser makes a very important contribution to the literature on Middle Eastern political economy by recasting the core concepts of the rentier state literature. This literature suggests that access to exogenous rents can militate against political liberalization and democratization. Glasser suggests that this is both mistaken and simplistic, as regimes such as those in Egypt or Kuwait in the 1980s used exogenous rents to create political openings that favour populist coalitions and non-class actors. In contrast states that lack exogenous rents such as Turkey and Morocco relied on centre right alliances comprising bourgeois groups which support the neo-liberalization promoted by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Glasser produces convincing evidence for his hypotheses in this book, which deserves to be widely read by political economists and other social scientists, especially those specializing in Middle Eastern studies.’
– Rodney Wilson, University of Durham, UK