What Hinders Economic Growth in the Middle East?
Juliane Brach | German Institute of Global and Area Studies | Sept. 2008 Economically speaking, Arab states have developed at a strikingly slower pace in the last 20 years than most other regions in the world. This is particularly true for the Arab Mediterranean, including Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, which have failed to capitalize on their especially advantageous geo-strategic position “at the crossroads of three continents, with excellent connections to sea and waterways and in direct proximity to the European Union, one of the world’s economic hubs.” In contrast to those states of the sub-Sahara, ethnic fractionalization and high-burden diseases like AIDS or Malaria don’t play an major role. Those sub-Saharan countries even attract more foreign direct investment than those in the Arab Mediterranean. Two arguments dominate the debate surrounding the constraining factors that hinder economic development in the Arab Mediterranean: political conflicts and trade barriers
