Oil, institutions and sustainability in MENA : a radical approach through the empowerment of citizens / Mohammed Akacem, Dennis Dixon Miller, John Leonard Faulkner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Akacem, Mohammed.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Oil industries.

Development economics.

Economic development.

Economic policy.

Physical Description:

xvi, 235 pages : illustrations (partly color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer, [2020]

Summary:

This book addresses the factors that have led to the lackluster economic performance of the oil MENA region, despite the wealth of its vast natural resource. It offers a radical policy recommendation as a way out. Using data from a wide variety of sources, it analyzes the major problems that confront the governments of the MENA region, and make the case why the status quo is unsustainable. Recently, Algeria has shown that people will tire of the status quo and will demand wholesale changes. At the core of the problem of corruption, rent seeking, waste, and lack of economic diversification, is the presence of oil and its control by the state. But oil by itself should help, not hinder MENAs economic development. While historically, oil revenues may have contributed to the maintenance of corrupt institutions and rent seeking among oil-rich nations, the mere presence of such valuable natural resources need not be the problem. It argues for a plan to empower citizens and invert the power relationship, so that the citizens voices matter. For the spirit of the Arab Spring to be successful, the region must adopt significant institutional changes that embrace the rule of law, transparency, democratic accountability, and the protection of human and private rights.

Contents:

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. MENA and World Oil Markets

Chapter 3. Resource Curse and Institutions

Chapter 4. Democracy in MENA

Chapter 5. MENA and Alternative Sources of Energy

Chapter 6. Reducing the Demand for Oil

Chapter 7. The Population Threat

Chapter 8. Why the Status Quo is Unsustainable

Chapter 9. Oil as a Path to Institutional Change in MENA

Chapter 10. Positive Directions for Reform.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references, glossary and index.

Other Format:

e-book version

ISBN:

9783030259310

3030259315

OCLC:

1152292157

Publisher Number:

9783030259310