ABSTRACT
This study is based on the argument that there is a complex set of domestic political factors that affect the extent and nature of cooperation in the Middle East which will in turn affect the respective domestic constituencies in each country of the region. The composition and articulation of interests by different groups in the countries of the Middle East are not only affected by the developments in the international environment but are also moulded by changes in their economies and political structures. Any move by decision-makers of the Middle Eastern countries to change the existing set of economic and political relationships towards more or less cooperative milieux will have to be approved by the relevant domestic constituencies and other political forces. The interaction between the domestic and international actors must be understood in order to explain the character and prospects of political and economic cooperation in the region.
