This book offers readers critical insights into a region in crisis and explores different facets of the crisis from governance to gender to the politics of identity, the challenge of the environment and the enduring impact of demographic variables and technological change. Whilst exploring the nature of the crises, the book also explores how policy-makers have responded to these and what other alternatives there are in overcoming challenges posed. Whilst the focus is on the Middle East North Africa region as a whole, the authors are well aware of the unique characteristics of individual countries. Hence the book examines regional trends whilst also being conscious of the national specificities of each country. In combining the general with the particular, the book approaches its subject matter from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective allowing one to understand regional trends and country specific peculiarities.

"This sophisticated transdisciplinary study combines qualitative and quantitative methods to offer a cutting-edge assessment of the current impact of three macro-dynamics-globalization, democratization, and development-on the Middle East North African (MENA) region. This is essential reading for both area specialists and social science generalists seeking to understand the latest sociopolitical and economic trends affecting the region and the world." -Manfred B Steger, Professor of Sociology, University of Hawaii and Global Professorial Fellow, Western Sydney University)

"A must-read research about the Middle East and North Africa. The critical and empirical approach deserves to be praised since it prevents the research from falling into the pitfalls of ideological dogmas and religious fanaticism. Hussein Solomon and Arno Tausch are to be congratulated on such an excellent job!" -Jacques Neriah, Late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's Foreign Policy Adviser and Editor of Jewish Political Studies Review

"Solomon and Tausch have produced a valuable contribution to the literature. Prospects for development in the MENA region are set in the context of a balanced appreciation of the different effects of globalisation, political culture, governance and Islam in different countries. Theoretical perspectives are combined with compelling empirical analysis..." -Calum Paton. Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, Keele University, UK

Autorentext
Hussein Solomon holds a D.Litt et Phil (Political Science) from the University of South Africa. Currently he is Senior Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Free State. His previous appointments include being Executive Director of the International Institute of Islamic Studies (2009-2010); Professor and Director of the Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria (2000-2010), Research Manager at the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (1998-2000), Senior Researcher: Institute for Security Studies (1996-1998) and Research Fellow: Centre for Southern African Studies, University of the Western Cape (1993-1995). In 2011, he was Visiting Professor at the Osaka School for International Public Policy (OSIPP). 
Arno Tausch is currently Honorary Associate Professor of Economics, Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary (since Fall Semester 2010) and adjunct professor (Universitaetsdozent) of political science at the Department of Political Science, Innsbruck University, Austria (since 1988). He entered the Austrian Civil Service on January 1, 1992, and retired from active service on February 29, 2016. He served as an Austrian diplomat abroad and was attaché, and later counselor for labor and migration at the Austrian Embassy in Warsaw, 1992-1999. Since 1978, he has taught numerous regular courses in political science, economics, and sociology at universities in Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, and the United States. He has authored or coauthored books and articles for major international publishers and journals, among them 22 books in English, 2 books in French, 8 books in German, and well over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and also numerous articles in the media of several countries. His publications also include a number of essays for leading economic and foreign policy global think tanks, and he is a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in Israel.

Inhalt

1. Setting the Scene.- 2. Failing States And Losing Sovereignty? Reflecting On The State And Politics In The Mena Region.- 3. Achievements And Deficits Of The Arab Mena Economies On Th Eve Of The Current Global Corona Tsunami.- 4. Arab Mena States And Value Change: What Happens When Economic Globalization Is More Rapid Than Cultural Globalisation.- 5. Beyond Patriarchy: Gender, Islam And The Mena Region.- 6. Sectarianism And The Politics Of Identity In The Mena Region.- 7. Political Islam In The Arab Mena Countries: The Evidence From The Arab Barometer (5) Data About The Unword Of Middle East Research.- 8. Overcoming The Environmental Challenge In The Mena Region.- 9. The Mena Region In The Face Of Covid-19.- 10. Conclusion.