ABSTRACT
Endowed with abundant energy reserves, geographically situated in a globally strategic place, and with an enthusiastic workforce, the Middle East has become an arena where rival world powers and multinational corporations (MNCs) vigorously compete for influence and domination. Since the early 1970s, the region has witnessed rapid economic change coupled with rising expectations, political instability, and undelivered promises. The unity of contradiction or, more precisely, the coexistence of economic progress and setbacks, wealth and poverty, should be viewed as a notable hallmark of the region’s landscape and a definite proof that nothing is certain except change in this vital part of the world. Indeed, these opposing forces appear to complement each other and may become instrumental for profound and all-encompassing change.
