ABSTRACT
Several fundamental questions have been raised frequently in the context of the secular disparity of economic growth of the West and the East (including the Middle East):
Why in the course of history has the West reached an exceedingly high level of economic development, while the rest of the world has lagged behind under conditions of growing disparity?
Can underdeveloped economies make use of historical models of the developed countries, are they bound to follow similar stages of growth, or are jumps in the sequence of growth possible?
What are the strategic factors of growth and of transition from backwardness to higher levels of economic performance?
What is the degree of feasibility of normative growth models under economic, social, institutional and political conditions prevailing in the Middle East, or, in other words, what are the relative weights of the sharing, competitive and growth responses in Middle East societies?
