Globalization and MENA

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Supporters of globalization try to reassure that globalization is good for both the wealthy and the poor alike. I would contest this theory especially in the Middle East and North Africa. As we have seen in recent news most of the Middle East and North Africa are in great turmoil. I believe rapid globalization forced upon this area by IMF and World Bank is to blame. These two entities are controlled mainly by the United States and other European powers to do their bidding around the world. This I believe is seen by the people of Mena as neocolonialism. Globalization has brought MENA authoritarianism, corruption, poverty and strengthens political Islam in the area.

So why has globalization seemingly been such a failure in the Middle East and North Africa. The Middle East has had one of the most stagnant economies over the past 30 years.From 1980 to 1990 it had almost zero growth (IMF,2010). The collapse of oil in the early 1980s put a lot of the MENA countries into debt crisis according to the IMF. Most of the MENA countries borrowed heavily from the IMF. The IMF instituted austerity measures in all of these countries. These included privatization of state-owned enterprises and drastic government spending cuts which mostly affected social programs. Many of the MENA countries experienced a change of leadership. This new leadership was generally younger and a lot more accepting of globalization. Also at this time the Cold War was coming to an end this is when US military leaders decided that radical Islam might be there next threat18. This is when the IMF and World Bank started to give preferential loan agreements with friendly MENA countries like Jordan, Egypt’ Tunisia and Morocco. The IMF would not make loans to Syria, Sudan , an...

... middle of paper ...

... support. The leaders except the IMF and World Bank lending policies which are severe and restrictive. These policies do not help the average citizen.

Works Cited

Economist, "An Unsparing New Report by Arab Scholars Explains Why Their Region Lags Behind so Much of the World," (July 4, 2002).

F. Gerges, "The End of the Islamist Insurgency in Egypt?: Costs and Prospects," The Middle East Journal, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Fall 2000), p. 607.

. El-Said, "The Political Economy of Reform in Jordan: Breaking Resistance to Reform?" In G. Joffe, Jordan in Transition 1990-2000 (London: Hurst, 2002).

. S. Hubbell, "The Containment Myth: US Middle East Policy in Theory and Practice," Middle East Report, Vol. 28, No. 208 (Fall 1998), p. 9.

J. Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents (London: Penguin Books, 2002), p. 41.

UN Statistical Year Book (New York, 2001), pp. 244-258

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