Publisher's Synopsis
This volume focuses on the different forms of transformation and their prerequisites that are essential for the development process in the Arab region. These forms are demographic, economic and sociopolitical and are directly pertaining to the main resources in the area: human, oil and agriculture.;Some of the papers specifically present the pattern of the required transformations, while others present the prerequisites for these transformations and the actual and potential constraints. All the papers analyze various macro and micro aspects of the transformation process and incorporate some alarming future concerns for economic and human development conditions.;The book is divided into four sections. The first part is an overview paper providing the background for the rest of the volume and highlighting some of the critical contextual and developmental issues facing the countries of the Arab region. The second section consists of four papers that examine some critical transformations essential for development, including a chapter illustrating the importance of values and perceptions in demographic transformations.;Section three consists of three papers that examine some important prerequisites for the development transformations. The first paper, for example, evaluates the labour market conditions in the Arab region. The final section examines some of the ethical dimensions of development in this region. The last paper in this section examines the role of ideology in economic policy and studies closely the relation between Islam, society and economic policy.
