Doing Business in the Middle East: Politics and Economic Crisis in Jordan and Kuwait (Cambridge Middle East Studies, Series Number 20)

Is business the solution to the problems of the Middle East? Some economists and policymakers argue that unleashing the Arab private sector is the key to sustainable growth and more liberal politics. Pete Moore's book is the first to examine relations between state authority and elite business representation in the region. By analysing the Kuwait and Jordan cases, he considers why organised business in Kuwait has been able to coordinate policy reform with state officials, while their Jordanian counterparts have generally failed. The author concludes that unleashing the private sector alone is insufficient to change current political and economic arrangements, and that successful economic adjustment requires successful political adjustment. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 5 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Note on transliteration and translation......Page 14 1 Summers of discontent: business–state politics in the Middle East......Page 15 Comparing cases and subjects......Page 19 A single logic, two approaches......Page 24 Rents and sectors in the Middle East......Page 27 The micro approach: collective action by business......Page 38 Contributions and framework......Page 41 Among equals: merchant–ruler relations and state creation in Kuwait......Page 44 Mubarak the Great and political rule under the British......Page 47 Merchant politics in the interwar years......Page 50 Oil and new business–state relations......Page 54 Political independence and the founding of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry......Page 60 The cabinet crisis and the National Assembly......Page 62 Business cohesion and relations with the state in the 1960s......Page 65 “Strangers with capital”: the first merchants......Page 71 Structure of business representation......Page 75 The Mandate period and growth of a rentier state......Page 76 State expansion from the time of independence and merchant–state relations......Page 81 Merchants in parliament......Page 84 Institution-building and institutional change......Page 86 Policy coordination and politics......Page 91 Conclusion......Page 95 Good times in Kuwait......Page 99 Endangering the pact: political industrialization, the stock market, and the new merchants......Page 101 Ramifications for business representation......Page 107 “Grabbing at a wild horse”: the breakdown of coordination......Page 108 War, rents, and state autonomy......Page 115 Political industrialization and a basis for new merchants......Page 119 Institutional dynamics: strains on collective representation......Page 123 Attempting policy coordination......Page 127 Conclusion......Page 132 Easy money and regrets in Kuwait......Page 134 The terrain of crisis politics: parliament and business as the opposition......Page 135 The expansion of policy participation......Page 139 The Manakh struggles......Page 142 Expanding coordination: resolving the debts and pursuing economic reform......Page 148 Consolidating business’s position: external and internal challenges in the 1990s and 2000......Page 152 Adjustment in Jordan......Page 159 Fiscal crises and state vulnerability in the 1980s......Page 160 “A head without a body”: business representation in Jordan......Page 161 The first reform opportunities in the 1980s......Page 166 Business, state, and limited political liberalization in the 1990s......Page 170 War and taxes......Page 174 Working to attract foreign investment......Page 181 A political economy of Jordan’s peace with Israel......Page 184 Conclusion......Page 188 5 Is business the solution?......Page 190 Addressing the alternatives......Page 192 Business, state, and economic liberalization in the Arab world......Page 194 Economic crisis, business representation, and the question of political reform......Page 199 Appendix Comparative associational data......Page 205 Select bibliography......Page 213 Index......Page 224 "Is business the solution to the problems of the Middle East? Some economists and policymakers argue that unleashing the Arab private sector is the key to sustainable growth and more liberal politics. Pete Moore's book is the first to examine, systematically and historically, relations between state authority and elite business representation in the region. By analyzing the cases of Kuwait and Jordan, he considers why organized businesses in Kuwait have been able to coordinate policy reform with state officials, while their Jordanian counterparts have generally failed. The author concludes that unleashing the private sector alone is insufficient to change current political and economic arrangements, and that successful economic adjustment requires successful political adjustment."--Jacket Examining relations between state authority and elite business representation in the Middle East, Pete Moore considers the examples of Kuwait and Jordan. He examines why organized business in Kuwait has been able to coordinate policy reform with state officials, while their Jordanian counterparts have generally failed, despite similar fiscal crises. Moore concludes that unleashing the private sector alone is insufficient to change current political and economic arrangements when established political infrastructures remain in place. Moore's book is the first to examine relations between state authority and elite business representation in the Middle East. By considering the Kuwait and Jordan cases, he concludes that unleashing the private sector alone is insufficient to change current political and economic arrangements when established political infrastructures remain in place