Growth models, power blocs and authoritarianisms in Turkey and Egypt in the 21st century

Analysis of the growth patterns in the global South in the 21st century suggests there is room for authoritarian states to search for new growth models. Authoritarian states, such as Turkey and Egypt, benefited from global financial circumstances in the early 21st century and opted for new growth models in the 2010s, suppressing political space further. To explain the changes in growth models amid the strength of reinforced authoritarianisms in these two countries, we employ a hybrid research strategy consisting of critical macroeconomic analysis and a critical political economy approach, tying growth model changes to conflicts within the power bloc. Peripheral goods producers gained the upper hand in Turkey in this period, while a military takeover in Egypt was followed by the promotion of exports and new investments in the mid-to-late 2010s. We contend that power bloc reconfigurations and the rise of new growth strategies led to the change in Turkey's growth model during the Covid-19 pandemic and the quasi-shift in Egypt's growth model in the late 2010s.