ABSTRACT
No other region in the world offers as contradictory a picture as the Middle East. Home of three religions, the region has an unparalleled diversity of culture and history. With its rich oil reserves, it is the host of one of the world’s most precious natural resources. Yet it has also been an ongoing host to historic conflicts between the Arab countries and Israel, between conservative and radical regimes, between Iran and Iraq, between Iraq and the Gulf-War coalition, between the oil-rich and non-oil states, between secularists and Islamic fundamentalists. The 1980s and early 1990s witnessed developments that may indeed transform this land of political turbulence and conflicts. Can the Middle East become an ‘economically prospering’, ‘democratising’ region like most regions in the world and finally begin to fulfil its potential? Or is the region bound to remain ‘exceptional’, plagued with violent conflict, slow growth, relative isolation, and closed and inefficient economies? Can the existing barriers to political and economic cooperation be overcome in the region? If so, how can the Middle East join in the global trend of regional cooperation? What are the new opportunities and prospects emerging in the region that make such cooperation more likely? What are the conditions of successful economic and political cooperation in the Middle East? Do these conditions exist in the region? What role can states with democratic and open regimes with fewer inter-state conflicts, or what may be called ‘likeminded’ states, play in fostering cooperation in the region? What kind of a role can one of these ‘like-minded’ states, namely Turkey, play in order to enhance cooperation and peace in the Middle East? This study explores the answers to these questions by analysing the constraints and prospects of regional cooperation in the Middle East. In answering these questions, we observe that exploring the prospects of economic and political cooperation in the Middle East is a highly urgent and crucial issue. Such a focus is likely to have important repercussions not only for peace and development in the region but also for the world. The Gulf War has clearly shown that few conflicts in the Middle East can actually remain regional. Given the geo-strategic and economic significance of the region, ensuring stability through regional cooperation, is indeed a priority.
