• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Uri Dadush"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
    "North Africa"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

Other

Economic Integration in the Time of Turmoil

Economic integration is crucial in order to achieve rapid and sustainable growth. However, instabilities in the Middle East and North Africa and the recent plunge in oil prices may stifle economic progress.

Link Copied
By Uri Dadush
Published on May 18, 2015

Source: OCP Policy Center

Integration into the global economy is essential for rapid and sustained growth, but the countries of the MENA region remain among the least integrated, and were so even before the Arab uprising and the spreading turmoil. To fight poverty and create jobs, the MENA countries must engage in a broad-ranging process of reforms designed to enhance their competitiveness. Trade agreements can provide an important supporting role to this effort, but only if they are part of a wider process of domestic re-forms and they are truly ambitious in scope.

The weak trade performance of the MENA region has been extensively documented and analyzed. Beginning in the early 1990’s, the writer has worked at irregular inter-vals on some 7 or 8 separate examinations of the econo-mic integration of the MENA region and of individual countries in the region, and it is frankly distressing how little the story on trade has changed.

There is no doubt that a truly ambitious trade initiative – part of a broad country-driven reform effort designed to improve the business environment and boost productivity – and supported by the region’s main trading partners through enhanced market access and funds - would boost the region’s development prospects. Such a trade initia-tive, one that could conceivably be comparable in scope and ambition to that which propelled the EU’s accession countries, would also lead to accelerated integration with-in the region, bind the region more closely with its Euro-pean neighbors and the United States, create jobs and help reestablish the region’s badly frayed social contract...

Full Text

This paper was originally published by the OCP Policy Center.

About the Author

Uri Dadush

Former Senior Associate, International Economics Program

Dadush was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He focuses on trends in the global economy and is currently tracking developments in the eurozone crisis.

    Recent Work

  • Commentary
    The Labors of Tsipras

      Uri Dadush

  • In The Media
    Greece, Complacency, and the Euro

      Uri Dadush

Uri Dadush
Former Senior Associate, International Economics Program
Uri Dadush
EconomyMiddle EastNorth Africa

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • One man tossing a sack to another to stack on a truck
    Commentary
    Emissary
    The Other Global Crisis Stemming From the Strait of Hormuz’s Blockage

    Even if the Iran war stops, restarting production and transport for fertilizers and their components could take weeks—at a crucial moment for planting.

      • Noah  Gordon ​​​​

      Noah Gordon, Lucy Corthell

  • Crowds holding Iranian flags and photos of the late Khamenei
    Commentary
    Emissary
    Who Will Be Iran’s Next Supreme Leader?

    If the succession process can be carried out as Khamenei intended, it will likely bring a hardliner into power.

      • Eric Lob

      Eric Lob

  • people watching smoke rising at sunrise from rooftops
    Commentary
    Emissary
    Bombing Campaigns Do Not Bring About Democracy. Nor Does Regime Change Without a Plan.

    Just look at Iraq in 1991.

      Marwan Muasher

  • Satellite of a damaged oil refinery
    Commentary
    Emissary
    Iran Is Pushing Its Neighbors Toward the United States

    Tehran’s attacks are reshaping the security situation in the Middle East—and forcing the region’s clock to tick backward once again.

      Amr Hamzawy

  • A boat, with smoke in the background
    Commentary
    Emissary
    The Gulf Monarchies Are Caught Between Iran’s Desperation and the U.S.’s Recklessness

    Only collective security can protect fragile economic models.

      • Andrew Leber

      Andrew Leber

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600Fax: 202 483 1840
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.