The economic history of the Middle East and North Africa is quite extraordinary.
This is an axiomatic statement, but the very nature of the economic changes that have stemmed directly from the effects of oil resources in these areas has tended to obscure longterm patterns of economic change and the fundamental transformation of Middle Eastern and North African economies and societies over the past two hundred years.
In this study Professor Issawi examines and explains the development of these economies since 1800, focusing particularly on the challenge posed by the...