Political Islam and Europe - Views from the Arab Mediterranean states and Turkey. CEPS Working Document, No. 264, 10 April 2007

The social, political and economic power of moderate Middle East and North African Islamist movements has been growing for a generation or so. The question of how to deal with Islamists who reject violence, embrace democracy and outperform their competitors at the polls has therefore become a central concern not only of incumbent Middle East elites, but also of interested foreign actors such as the EU and US. Robert Springborg sees the need for the EU to clarify its policies towards the MENA region and Muslim democrats within it. The present lack of EU policies on engaging with moderate Islamists leads them to be at best curious about the EU and at worse to be suspicious of it. Engagement might itself help to contribute to policy formation in this important area, and serve as a vehicle to disseminate information about relevant EU policies

Volume 2: Development Models in Muslim Contexts : Chinese, \u27Islamic\u27 and Neo-liberal Alternatives

Recent discussions of the \u27Chinese economic development model\u27, the emergence of an alternative \u27Muslim model\u27 over the past quarter century and the faltering globalisation of the \u27Washington Consensus\u27 all point to the need to investigate more systematically the nature of these models and their competitive attractions. This is especially the case in the Muslim world which both spans different economic and geographic categories and is itself the progenitor of a development model. The \u27Chinese model\u27 has attracted the greatest attention in step with that country\u27s phenomenal growth and therefore provides the primary focus for this book. This volume examines the characteristics of this model and its reception in two major regions of the world - Africa and Latin America. It also investigates the current competition over development models across Muslim contexts. The question of which model or models, if any, will guide development in Muslim majority countries is vital not only for them, but for the world as a whole. This is the first political economy study to address this vital question as well as the closely related issue of the centrality of governance to development.https://ecommons.aku.edu/uk_ismc_series_emc/1003/thumbnail.jp

GCC Countries as "Rentier States" Revisited, a Book Review by by Robert Springbord of The Gulf Region: Economic Development and Diversification (4 vols.), ed. by Giaccomo Luciani, Steffen Hertog, Eckart Woertz, and Richard Youngs

Reviewed: The Gulf Region: Economic Development and Diversification (4 vols.), ed. by Giaccomo Luciani, Steffen Hertog, Eckart Woertz, and Richard Youngs. Berlin: Gerlach Press, 2012.Resources Blessed: Diversification and the Gulf Development Model (Vol. 1), ed. by Giacomo Luciani.National Employment, Migration and Education in the GCC (Vol. 2), ed. by Steffen Hertog.GCC Financial Markets: The World’s New Money Centers (Vol. 3), ed. by Eckert Woertz.The GCC in the Global Economy (Vol. 4), ed. by Richard Youngs.The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.3751/67.2.3Giacomo Luciani, the senior editor of this four volume set, along with Hazem Beblawi laid the conceptual foundations for Arab rentier states a quarter of a century ago.1 He and his team of some 40 researchers have now revisited this concept as part of a broader effort to describe and analyze the political economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. The very title of the flagship volume edited by Luciani, Resources Blessed: Diversification and the Gulf Development Model, suggests revision to the prevailing, Luciani-influenced orthodoxy that the resource curse and its attendant rentierism are inherently inconsistent with economic diversification and development. Revisionism implied by the title is indeed borne out as the editor and authors present a largely positive account of the economic accomplishments and future of the GCC states, distancing themselves, sometimes explicitly, not only from negative prognostications for rentier states, but even from the present applicability of the concept itself to the “mothers” of all rentier states, those that comprise the GCC

A Tunisian Solution for Egypt's Military: Why Egypt's Military Will Not Be Able to Govern

The popular uprisings that swept Egypt and Tunisia this winter were remarkably similar, but their immediate outcomes have been quite different. In Tunisia, civilian politicians and technocrats quickly took the helm of the country in the wake of the revolution. In Egypt, by contrast, the military’s Supreme Council is slated to rule the nation for six months, and whether it stays in power or returns to the barracks, it will surely try to ensure that civilians do not subordinate its role in politics. Given the nature and history of the two countries’ militaries, this divergence is not surprising. Still, Egypt’s military may not have the stranglehold on power that many think, and a real Tunisian solution -- a civilian government free of military involvement -- could form in Egypt as well

Political Islam and European Foreign Policy: Perspectives from Muslim Democrats of the Mediterranean. CEPS Paperbacks. November 2007

The time is ripe for the European Union, its institutions and member states to undertake an explicit review of its current policy of ‘benign neglect’ towards the broad collection of ‘Muslim democrat’ parties in the Mediterranean Arab states. The group of experts assembled to produce this new book adduces mounting evidence that this policy may lead to unintended consequences, such as the reinforcement of anti-democratic regimes and radical Islamism. Their arguments favour a broad inclusion of Muslim democrats in EU initiatives aiming at the reform of governance and the development of civil society, without extending to them any singular, exclusive or unsolicited privileges

Islamic Radicalization: The Challenge for Euro-Mediterranean Relations. CEPS Paperbacks. June 2009

On June 4th, Obama will deliver his long-anticipated speech in Cairo, which is expected to convey a reconciliatory message to Arabs and Muslims across the world. As both the US and the EU are trying to reset their policies in the Middle East, the challenge of how to deal with the most important emerging actors in the region – Islamists – remains a matter of great controversy. In this book, Arab and European authors ask whether the EU's current policies are contributing to the radicalisation of Islamist movements in the Middle East and North Africa, and argue in favour of an EU policy based on inclusion

Agrarian Bourgeoisie, Semiproletarians, and the Egyptian State: Lessons for Liberalization

From Morocco to Iraq, Arab polities and economies appear to be liberalizing. The holding of comparatively free elections, easing of media censorship, and invigoration of associational activity have accompanied relaxation of political control by single parties. Economic liberalization has paralleled these political changes. Privatization, currency devaluations and partial flotations, rejuvenation of capital markets, reductions of subsidies on basic consumer goods, and other elements of economic liberalization packages have been adopted in varying degrees in the political economies of the Arab republics and, to a lesser extent, in the Arab monarchies.</jats:p