The Arab state and neoliberal globalization: the restructuring of state power in the Middle East, edited by Laura Guazzone and Daniela Pioppi, Reading, Ithaca Press, 2009, 300 pp., £49.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780863723391
This collection examines four Arab states (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia) and concludes that the state in the Arab world has been undergoing a process of radical change due to global influences, especially since the events of 11 September 2001. This has resulted in the re-emergence of a neo-authoritarian Arab state that has been adapting to global economic pressures and security demands (p. 8). The book rectifies an important gap in the literature on the dynamics of the state in the Arab world by examining various aspects of the system of power and by taking into account the role of domestic and international actors such as the United States and Israel.
Part 1 examines the changing patterns of political mobilisation, finding that external and sometimes domestic demands for political reform and liberalisation have had contradictory outcomes. Political decision-making has become ever more concentrated among a few, while the masses have been left with few avenues to influence the outcome of policies or state action. Joel Beinin writes that despite implementing policies of economic liberalisation and reform in the 1990s, the Egyptian political system and society remains in the grips of a neo-authoritarian regime that shows no commitment to political liberalisation. Karam Karam argues that the relationship between the rulers and citizens of Lebanon has been deeply influenced by domestic, regional and international conflicts and actors in recent decades. Karam points out that the communitarian nature of the Lebanese political system leaves little room for non-confessional mobilisation, a weakness he doubts will be overcome in the near future. Steffen Hertog argues that Saudi Arabia, in contrast to Arab republican regimes like Egypt, has not witnessed a radical change in its conduct of politics or state–society relations. Given the wealth of oil, the Saudi regime has avoided neoliberal shock therapy while continuing its policies of clientelistic redistribution.
The chapters in Part 2 argue that rather than creating competitive markets or increasing productivity levels, neoliberal economic policies have resulted in empowering a new class of capitalists who rely on state power and usurp public wealth. Ulrich G. Wurzel explains how despite the changes in the Egyptian economy, the state continues to maintain a strong role in resource distribution thanks to the rise of an elite that colludes with the regime and relies on it for its accumulation goals. Charbel Nahas points out how despite becoming a major financial hub in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, Lebanon has failed to turn the investment flows towards a long-term plan for economic growth due to lack of financial regulatory mechanisms. Tim Niblock claims that Saudi Arabia in recent years has been implementing an industrial policy that would give it a bigger share in the global economy. However, given the predominantly unskilled Saudi labour force, the social benefits of such a policy would not accrue to Saudi citizens. Myriam Catusse argues that while the Moroccan state has adopted a discourse of ‘less state’, in actuality the state has redefined its powers (p. 187). This chapter makes some contradictory claims. For instance, Catusse states that ‘Morocco has not recently converted, properly speaking, to the market economy: property rights have not been restored or fundamentally transformed’ (p. 189). However, she provides ample evidence that counters this claim and shows that Morocco has indeed undergone a radical shift towards a market economy (pp. 190, 195–198).
Part 3 examines the security dilemmas of the regimes in an age of neoliberal globalisation and global terrorism. As Elizabeth Piccard points out, ‘globalization and the unipolar domination by the United States has forced a reorganization of the world, and especially of the Arab Middle East, into unequal hierarchical units, crisscrossed by networks of transnational actors’ (p. 259). Philippe Droz-Vincent highlights the expanding role of the Egyptian security apparatus in the Egyptian economy as a sign of its increasing power in society. Piccard explores the reforms of the Lebanese state and its security sector in the context of MENA region's deeper integration into the global security order. She argues that while the Lebanese security sector is inflicted with sectarian divides such as those existing within the larger Lebanese society and state, it nonetheless is serving increasingly the role of a proxy for the West in the latter's global war on terror (pp. 250–252). Paul Aarts and Joris van Duijne conclude that there has been no radical transformation in the Saudi security sector, but rather the state's security expenditure has increased over the years, highlighting a closer and deeper relationship with the United States. Issandr el Amrani argues that along with a shift towards a more liberal economic system in the 1990s, Morocco has relaxed its domestic security policy. Internationally, Morocco has maintained a pro-Western foreign policy and has been involved in the US's extraordinary renditions while maintaining an amicable relationship with the state of Israel, both of which have caused public protest against the regime (el Amrani, p. 307).
In the final chapter, the editors highlight the main findings of the book. In the absence of a progressive alternative, politically Arab regimes have turned more authoritarian thanks to the discourse of anti-terrorism and the global war on terror (p. 325). The economic trends in the region highlight a shift towards market liberalisation as a response to the fiscal crisis of the state that emerged in the region in the 1980s, albeit the pace and nature of these reforms have been conditioned by various national contexts. Observations from the security sectors underline the impact of neoliberal globalisation and the global war on terror. This book highlights a deep and growing relationship between the various aspects of the state in the Arab world. The thematic organisation of the chapters allows for a comparative analysis of the four countries. The chapters in the third part open up a new way of examining the security sector in the region by going beyond the traditional studies of foreign policy. At the time of writing (1 February 2011), the revolts erupting in Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt raise important questions about the limits of top-down economic liberalisation without democratisation. Depending on the balance of forces coming out of these revolts and the nature of international response to them, either the region could embark on a path of democratisation, which could complicate the neoliberal agenda, or we could witness a brutal clampdown of the revolts and therefore a continuation of autocratic rule.