ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the interplay of domestic social forces that has produced infitah. It draws on fragility of the previous era of socialist-oriented reform in countries such as Egypt, Syria and Tunisia, these domestic factors may not have been so significant as the pressure generated by the proximity of the oil wealth, and its close connection with the industrial and financial system of Europe and the United States. The book suggests that external pressure was much the most important factor of all in explaining the chances of economic policy in both the oil and the non-oil states in the Middle East. The revolution in oil prices in the 1970s has had profound effects throughout the world, nowhere more dramatically than in the Arab states.
