The implications of the rentier state theory regarding the major oil-producing states of the Middle East
Jul 2017 · Aus der Reihe: e-fellows.net stipendiaten-wissen Book 2386 · GRIN Verlag
Ebook
18
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 67, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, course: State and Transformation in the Middle East, language: English, abstract: The rentier state theory has informed much scholarly research on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. A main theorist of the rentier state theories argues that "in a rentier state, the government is the principal recipient of the external rent in the economy. This is a fact of paramount importance, cutting across the whole of the social fabric of the economy affecting the role of the state in the society" (Beblawi, 1990, p.88). With several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region ranking among the rentier states, it is important to consider the term, which has influenced political thinking of the past and the present. This argumentation raises the question of adequacy concerning the notion of the rentier state in analysing political processes in the major oil-producing states of the Middle East. In order to answer this question, this essay is divided into two main parts. In a first section, it will consider the main features that the rentier state theorists have set out and the implications that this theory brings about. In a second step, the main limitations of this theory will be elaborated, as well as some of its benefits will be considered. Close reading of the theories by Hossein Mahdavy (1970), Giacomo Luciani (1987), and Hazem Beblawi (1990), the consideration of critical essays on theories of the rentier state, as well as a glance at countries ranking among rentier states by definition leads to the conclusion that the rentier state theory judges, generalises, and oversimplifies the respective states that rank among the definition of the rentier states. The theory focuses on the economy of a state and how a regime manages this economy, and excludes many elements that are essential to the analysis of the mentioned political processes and is therefore very problematic for this purpose.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
