Preparing Arab Economy to face the Middle-East Market (MEM).
Prof. Dr Moustafa El-Abdallah Al Kafry
Preparing Arab Economy to face the Middle-East Market (MEM).
Prof. Dr Moustafa El-Abdallah Al Kafry
The scheme of a Middle-East market lies from long ago in Israel’s thoughts and economic literature. Yet it was not considered for practical implementation until Madrid Peace Conference met in 1991. It seems to be an item included in Israel’s master bill of peace. It would comprise countries of the Arab region and Israel, in addition to Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia. This raises a number of questions:
- Is MEM emanating from an inner desire of the region, or is it imposed to it from the outside or from the inside?
- Can we afford to decline MEM? For which reasons especially if there is an Arab refusal?
- What is MEM’s concept? What are its advantages and disadvantages?
In case Arab countries do not reject it, how can they deal with its disadvantages? MEM is an economic bloc to be established with Israel, autonomous Palestine and Jordan as core members. Below are other countries that may, hypothetically, join the bloc:
- Arab countries, or some of them, and Israel
- Arab countries, or some of them, Turkey and Israel
- Arab countries, or some of them, Turkey, Iran and Israel
- Arab countries, or some of them, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Israel
- Arab countries, or some of them, Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Israel.
Many other speculations about MEM’s boundaries and members can be brought up and debated theoretically or politically but this is not my intention here. Such controversies, I believe, are a loss of time. Academicians and strategists have been doing this since the beginning of this century and yet no particular definition has been agreed upon. Well, this is simply because no absolute definition can be fixed for an artificial creature unless we abide by similar criteria. As long as criteria are different, as positions and objectives actually are, every party has a Middle East of its own. Sometimes many Middle Easts, according to the interests at stake. Therefore, Israel Middle East, in terms of security, certainly comprises Iran, Iraq and may be Pakistan and India (mainly after their latest nuclear tests), if we are to speak about nuclear weaponry. On the other hand, this relative geographical designation does not apply at all if we are to speak about tourism or economy.
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Preparing Arab Economy to face the Middle
Preparing Arab Economy to face the Middle-East Market (MEM).
Prof. Dr Moustafa El-Abdallah Al Kafry,
Contents
Shimon Perez sets forth its vision of MEM as follows: 5
Primary conditions for economic cooperation between the Arabs and Israel are lacked: 6
Casa Blanca Economic Summit: 7
Cairo Economic Summit for Middle East and North Africa: 10
The Middle East Market and the Arab Nation: 14
How can Arab economies be prepared to face the Middle-East Market: 15