Democracy and development in the MENA

Abstract

Countries in the MENA region have experienced a peculiar pattern of development along a persistent resistance to democratization. Left and right views advanced interpretations that hold post-colonial national arrangements and oil relations as among the curses responsible for the detachment of democracy from development. This chapter calls for reconsidering the left and right’s assumptions on political economy. It highlights features of Middle Eastern communitarianism that entangle the individual, social class, and the nation within the realm of communitarian rationalism. It concludes that in a chronically divided and turbulent MENA region, the wedge between development and democracy is destined to widen. Thus, and under such a regional context, development is primarily driven by communitarian interests and determined by corresponding political bargains.