A Political Economy of the Middle East

A Political Economy of the Middle East is the most comprehensive analysis of the political economy of development in the contemporary Middle East over the past several decades, examining the interaction of economic development processes, state systems, state policies, and social actors in the Middle East.

The fourth edition, with new authors Melani Cammett and Ishac Diwan, has been thoroughly revised, with two new introductory chapters that provide an updated framework with which to understand and study the many changes in demography, education, labor markets, urbanization, water and agriculture, and international labor migration in the recent years. The new edition also includes: a new chapter that charts the political economy of the Gulf states and in particular the phenomenal growth of oil economies; a new chapter on the growth of the private sector and its effects in the region; a new chapter on the rise of "crony capitalism;" and increased coverage of the changes in civil society and social movements in the region including an exploration of the causes, dynamics, consequences, and aftermath of the Arab uprisings.

Melani Cammett is associate professor of political science, a faculty associate at the Population Studies and Training Center, and a faculty fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. She is the author of Globalization and Business Politics in North Africa: A Comparative Perspective (2007), Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon (2014), and the coeditor of The Politics of Non-State Welfare (2014). Cammett has also published articles in many scholarly journals including, Annual Review of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Studies in Comparative International Development, World Development, and World Politics among others. Her current research focuses on public and social goods provision by Islamists and other types of public and private actors in several Middle Eastern countries.

Ishac Diwan is Lecturer in Public Policy and the director for Africa and the Middle East at the growth lab of the Center for International Development. In 1987, Diwan joined the World Bank in the Research Complex, where he focused on international finance, trade, and macroeconomics. In 1992, he joined the Bank’s Middle East department, first as the country economist for the West Bank and Gaza and later as a regional economist. Diwan lived in Addis Ababa (2002-2007) and Accra (2007-2011), as the Bank’s Country Director for Ethiopia and Sudan first, and then for Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and Guinea. He led several ambitious initiatives, such as Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net, Ethiopia’s Protection of Basic Services Program, and in West Africa, initiatives to support commercial agriculture, natural resources development, and jobs for the youth. Diwan has contributed to the Economic Research Forum and the Mediterranean Development Forum. He is the author of Development Under Adversity: The Palestinian Economy in Transition (1999), and has written numerous book chapters and articles for scholarly journals including the Journal of International Economics, World Bank Economic Review and International Economic Review among others.

Alan Richards is professor of economics and environmental studies, emeritus, at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

John Waterbury is William Stewart Tod Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Emeritus, at Princeton University.