MER Article ESCWA, Economic Integration in Western Asia ESCWA, Economic Integration in Western Asia (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985). This collection of papers from ECWA’s December 1981 Expert Group Meeting on Feasible Forms of Economic Cooperation and Integration in Western Asia includes a useful review of various schemes for Arab economic integrat Danny Reachard • 1 min read
MER Article Books on Saudi Arabian Economics Michael Field, The Merchants (London: John Murray, 1984). John R. Presley, A Guide to the Saudi Arabian Economy (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1984). Christian Huxley • 3 min read
MER Article Books on Arab Economies Samir Amin, The Arab Economy Today (London: Zed Press, 1982). Ismail-Sabri Abdalla et al, eds., Images of the Arab Future (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983). (Translated from Arabic) Adda Guecioueur, ed., The Problems of Arab Economic Development and Integration (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 198 Sharif Elmusa • 3 min read
"Poverty Is Not the Issue" Henry Selz was for the last nine years the Middle East representative of American Near East Refugee Aid, based in East Jerusalem. He spoke with Joe Stork and Tom Russell in Washington in late August 1985. You worked in the West Bank for nine years. How has your assessment of the situation changed f Joe Stork • 4 min read
Israel's Economic Crisis In the middle of August 1985, Minister of Science and Development Gideon Pat called on the Israeli public to disregard government declarations that the shekel would not be devaluated. The minister, on national radio, advised the public to purchase American dollars. The broadcast was aired on Friday Shlomo Frenkel • 12 min read
MER Article Sudan's Economic Nightmare Ten years ago, Sudan was described in a Food and Agriculture Organization report as a potential “breadbasket of the world.” Hopes for the development of Sudan’s economy were running high at the time: the investment of Arab oil-generated revenues in Sudan's agricultural sector seemed to hold immense Tim Niblock • 12 min read
MER Article Davis, Challenging Colonialism Eric Davis, Challenging Colonialism: Bank Misr and Egyptian Industrialization, 1920-1941 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983). Eric Davis intends his study to answer a wide range of questions concerning capitalism and industrialization in the Middle East. Two issues in particular are cent Fred H. Lawson • 5 min read
MER Article Winter of Discontent Nineteen eighty-four began in a bloody fashion in the Maghreb. Violent demonstrations erupted in the impoverished southwest and south of Tunisia at the very end of December and spread throughout the country during the first week of January. These followed the Tunisian government’s introduction of me David Seddon • 28 min read
MER Article States of Emergency A crisis had been building in Tunisia for many months. By the end of 1983, the economy was in serious trouble, support-for the regime had been eroding and the International Monetary Fund had proposed austerity measures. Within the government, corruption and personal luxury were rampant. President-fo James Paul • 8 min read
MER Article Two Economic Histories Charles Issawi, An Economic History of the Middle East and North Africa (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982). Roger Owen, The Middle East in the World Economy, 1800-1914 (New York: Methuen, 1981). James A. Reilly • 3 min read
MER Article Gran, Development by People Guy Gran, Development by People: Citizen Construction of a Just World (New York: Praeger, 1983). This ambitious book seeks to serve as a guide to building new societies in the Third World (and ultimately everywhere else) based on grassroots participatory development and the democratic empowerment o Karen Pfeifer • 1 min read
MER Article Turkey's Economy Under the Generals In September 1981, on the first anniversary of the military coup, the Economist summarized the succession of events that set Turkey’s critically ailing economy of-the late 1970s on its new course. The first step was an economic package announced on January 24, 1980. Designed by the government of Sü Altan Yalpat • 27 min read
