The Rentier State

This volume is devoted to a discussion of interrelations of the economic base with the cultural, social and political structures, and of its impact on the state. The ‘rentier states’ of the Middle East, which derive a substantial part of their revenue from foreign sources in the form of rent, largely oil revenues, face the same basic problem, the challenge of transforming their economies to give increased strength to productive activity and rely on its progress to increase state revenue from domestic sources. This book, Volume Two in the "Nation, State and Integration in the Arab World" research project carried out by the Istituto Affari Internazionali, examine the issue of the modernization of rentier states’ public finance, which may well entail important modifications in their domestic politics.

Second of the four volumes of the series Nation, State and Integration in the Arab World, the product of a three-year collective effort organised by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). Published also in the series "Routledge Library Editions: Politics of the Middle East" (July 2015, ISBN 978-1-13-892371-3). Chapters 2, 4, 6 and 8-9 already published in Giacomo Luciani (ed.), Public Finance in the Arab Countries, Ottawa, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), July 1986 (Manuscript Reports ; 135e). Chapters 3-5 published also in Giacomo Luciani (ed.), The Arab State, London, Routledge, 1990.