Midterm (lec 1-5) Summary for of the course Economy: Middle East -
BA International Studies
The summary is organised in stages with lecture material incorporated in it. See this
summary as a narrative/timeline which the course follows, and be able to understand this
timeline and the elements it incorporates! This summary includes the most important
material for the midterm:
- Lecture 1-5 taught by Sai Englert
- Based on the following books:
- Melani Cammett - A Political Economy of the Middle East
- Adam Hanieh - Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the
Middle East
Index
Stage 1: The end of the Ottoman empire P.2
Stage 2: European colonial period P.5
Stage 3: The process of decolonization / turning to the developmental state P.9
Stage 4: The neoliberal period P.14
The Middle East Today:
➔ Highly Centralised Ruling Classes
➔ Important GCC-led Regional Integration
➔ US-Centered International Networks of Ownership and Trade
➔ Growing Influence of Other Players
➔ High Levels of Unemployment (especially amongst the youth)
➔ High Levels of Education
➔ Growing Population
➔ Significant Informal Economy
➔ State Subsidies in Sharp Decline
➔ State-Owned Industries in Sharp Decline
➔ State-Provided Welfare Services in Sharp Decline
➔ Strong Repressive Arm of the State
"10 Conceptual Sins" in Analyzing
Middle East Politics by ERIC DAVIS
1
,Stage 1: end of the Ottoman Empire
International context: not necessarily relevant for the exam but it puts everything in
perspective:
➔ French Revolution
➔ Industrial Revolution
➔ Colonial Expansion
➔ French Invasion of Egypt in 1798-1802
➔ Growing Influence of the British Empire
➔ Pressure from the North and the Russian Empire
Ottoman Period -> internal context
During the long 19th century, (end 18th century till 19th century) the Ottoman Empire had
some fundamental struggles to deal with: (It marked the beginning of the end for the
Ottoman Empire)
1. Some ethnic groups started to advocate for nationalism and independence: most
notably, but not exclusively in the Balkans.
- growing tensions between periphery and centre of the empire
- increasing demands for local autonomy
2. Additionally, European countries such as France, Russia and the United Kingdom
had massive interests in taking over land from the Ottoman Empire. Ottomans were
pressed on all sides by EU empires trying to influence the empire.
3. Ottomans were unable to establish local authority over tax farmers and waqf
owners. (waqf = an Islamic endowment of property to be held in trust and used for a
charitable or religious purpose.) This leads to problems: major economic struggle for
the empire:
4. the Ottoman Empire had to deal with important economic struggles.
- The economic system of the Ottoman Empire was based on tax farms: local
lords were directly responsible for collecting taxes in a given area instead of
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, the central government. The moment the empire stopped expanding, local
lords that were interested in becoming a tax farmer couldn’t become one in a
newly conquered territory anymore, but were left with no other option than
attacking the already existing tax farmers.
➔ Because of such local competitions, tax farmers spent much money on
protecting themselves, instead of passing the money over to the central
Ottoman government, resulting in less tax money for the central state. ->
more money to militarized local bands
- another dimension here: Because the ottomans couldn’t get rent from their national
resources because of the above-mentioned reason and their lack of control over tax
farms and waqf people -> leads to less money to invest in agricultural productivity,
infrastructure, the general development of the empire.
- The main goal became to sustain power, not development! That was a big mistake.
larger investments in the military to maintain control, less money towards
development! -> resulted in Stagnation in population, land and agricultural
productivity, and trade
The reforms that followed that tried to get the Ottoman Empire back on its feet lead to its
collapse.
( The resource curse, also known as the paradox of plenty, refers to the paradox that
countries with an abundance of natural resources (such as fossil fuels and certain minerals),
tend to have less economic growth, less democracy, and worse development outcomes than
countries with fewer natural resources. About the reasons for this is no consensus. )
Ottoman decline and transition
This lower influx of tax money caused the infrastructure, trade routes and agriculture to be
neglected, which resulted in a process of stagnation throughout the entire economy.
- Attempting to deal with the decline they decide to centralize the economy, military,
politics; everything. The only thing that could save the Ottoman economy were
massive reforms: the Tanzimat. A process of political, military and economic
centralisation was started. (spoiler alert; Tanzimat failed)
- Tanzimat: 1839-1876 (Mahmud II and Abdul Mejid)
- 1877: First Ottoman Parliament
What kind of reforms?
- Political reforms (citizenship, secular courts, administrative reform, education
system reform, parliament). Political Reforms were partly driven by the need to
undercut nationalist demands in the Empire and weaken religious authorities.
- Centralisation of tax system: local rulers were forced to accept central authority
and to pass over taxes directly to the central state.
- To achieve this, a centralised military was needed and local tax farmers had to be
brought to the centre of the state.
➔ The problem was that these steps required money which the empire didn’t
have. The Ottoman Empire desperately needed money, so French and British
banks started knocking on the door of the Ottoman Empire.
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