ABSTRACT
The political economy of the Middle East and North Africa region is an example of "everything's the same, but it's different, too". This chapter discusses the predominance of statist responses to economic policy in the post independence era. It requires an examination of the colonial legacy as well as contemporary trends in state and private sector activities. The chapter focuses on crucial economic sectors, ranging from energy to industry, agriculture, and the service sector. It revolves to macro-systemic issues such as water, food, and the environment, with the penultimate section addressing demographic and population issues. The chapter concludes by considering the prospects for regional integration and immigration. When receiving countries' economies slow—or when anti-immigration sentiment increases because of concerns about a perceived threat to "societal security". The development of the region's political economies was the product of a complex array of outside influences intertwining with local and regional political and economic dynamics.
