Prospects for the Gulf All of the small Arab states of the Persian Gulf are now well into their second decade as independent political entities. Bahrain, Qatar and the seven principalities making up the United Arab Emirates became independent in 1971. Kuwait’s independence goes back another decade. Oman, though never a co Joe Stork • 11 min read
Books on Oil Prices Steven A. Schneider, The Oil Price Revolution (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983). Robert Sherrill, The Oil Follies of 1970-1980: How the Petroleum Industry Stole the Show (New York: Anchor Press, 1983). Michael Renner • 3 min read
Al-Khafaji, al-Dawla wal-Tatawwur al-Rasmali fil-Iraq Isam al-Khafaji, al-Dawla wal-Tatawwur al-Ra’smali fil-‘Iraq, 1968-1979 (Cairo, 1984). Isam al-Khafaji is a distinguished Iraqi economist who studied at Baghdad University under Muhammad Salman Hasan in the early 1970s. After leaving Iraq in 1978, he studied for a year in Paris before settling in B Marion Farouk-Sluglett • 5 min read
MER Article Brett, International Money and Capitalist Crisis E. A. Brett, International Money and Capitalist Crisis: The Anatomy of Global Disintegration (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983). 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
MER Article Berberoglu, Turkey in Crisis Berch Berberoglu, Turkey in Crisis, From State Capitalism to Neocolonialism (London: Zed Press, 1982). This is a useful, concise rendition of Turkish political history and economic development. It is rich in facts and easy-to-use economic data. Its best conceptual contribution is the portrayal of t Karen Pfeifer • 2 min read
MER Article Discrete Forms of the Petty Bourgeoisie Çağlar Keyder, The Definition of a Peripheral Economy: Turkey, 1923-1929 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981). Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1980. Karen Pfeifer • 7 min read
MER Article Warren's Revision of the Marxist Critique The theory of imperialism is in profound disarray. Many have recognized that dependency theory is inadequate to the task of analyzing the international capitalist economy, [1] while the touchstone of all Marxist analysis of imperialism—Lenin’s Imperialism: Highest Stage of Capitalism—has been questi Gary Nigel Howe • 6 min read
MER Article Imperialism and the Middle East Bill Warren, Imperialism: Pioneer of Capitalism (London: Verso, 1980). Fred Halliday • 17 min read
MER Article International Finance and the Third World The foreign debt of the less developed countries (LDCs) of the Third World now stands at around $600 billion. More than half of this—about $350 billion—is owed to private international banks. Events like the strikes and demonstrations in Brazil this summer, or the labor unrest that triggered the mil Jeff Frieden • 20 min read
MER Article The Reconstruction Crusade and Class Conflict in Iran The Islamic Republic’s revolutionary credentials are, apart from foreign policy, largely based on the activities of the so-called revolutionary organizations created shortly after the February 1979 uprising. Operating through these popular organizations, the regime signaled a new beginning for milli Emad Ferdows • 17 min read
MER Article Social Bases for the Hama Revolt During the first week of February 1982, serious fighting broke out in Syria between residents of the north-central city of Hamah and the government’s armed forces. A Syrian army raid on a number of buildings that were suspected of being hideouts for local cells of the Muslim Brothers precipitated th Fred H. Lawson • 18 min read
