The political logic of economic restructuring in the Middle East

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 1,7, University of Kassel, language: English, abstract: It is claimed that Middle Eastern countries lack behind market reforms and show an antipathy towards neoliberal economic restructuring. This research paper looks into the logic of economic restructuring, whereby privatisation, competition and regulation theory build the framework for analysing market liberalisation in the Middle East. A case study on Islamic banking reflects the differences and challenges of respecting Muslim traditions at the one hand and Western financial practices on the other. It becomes paramount that economic restructuring is perceived mostly negatively by Muslim states and therefore, clashes with neoliberal understanding of pro-market reforms are inevitable.