Economic and Political Dimensions of Globalisation in the Arab World

This Chapter Analyses In Detail The Economic And Political Dimensions Of Globalisation In The Arab World, Namely The Middle East And North Africa (Mena)1, Over The Past Three Decades. It Has Been Argued By Various Authors That Globalisation In Mena Is Not Commensurate With Its Middle-Income Status (Srinivasan, 2002) And That The Region Has Been Left Behind By The Rapid Wave Of Globalisation Which Has Taken Place In The Past Few Decades (World Bank, 2003). We Examine The Data To See Whether This Is So In Both The Economic And Political Realms. In Economic Terms We Examine Data On Trade Openness, A Standard Measure Of Economic Globalisation, By Looking At Exports And Imports As A Ratio To Gdp. We Also Look At Trends In Direct Foreign Investment (Dfi) Into The Region As Well As Aid Flows. Finally, We Look At The Ease Of Doing Business In The Region. In Terms Of The Political Dimensions Of Globalisation, We Look At Whether The Global Values Of Democracy, Accountability And Press Freedom Have Spread Into The Mena Region. In Essence, This Chapter Serves As A Statistical Background To The Rest Of The Book Which Looks At These Different Dimensions Of Globalisation As Well As The Issue Of Radicalisation In The Region In Greater Depth, Including Case Country Studies. To Facilitate Our Analysis We Often Divide The Countries Of Mena Into Their Resource And Labour Classifications, That Is, Resource-Rich And Labour-Abundant, Resource-Rich And Labour-Importing, And Resource-Poor And Labour-Abundant (See Annex 1 For Details Of Countries Falling Into Each Classification).