The Political Economy Of Contemporary Egypt

Investigating key features of contemporary Egypt, this volume includes Egypt's modern history, politics, economics, the legal system, environment, and its media and modes of cultural expression. It examines Egypt's capacities to meet developmental challenges, ranging from responding to globalization and regional competition to generating sufficient economic growth and political inclusion to accommodate the interests and demands of a rapidly growing population. The macrohistory of Egypt is complemented by the microhistories of specific institutions and processes that constitute separate sections in this handbook. The chapters revolve around political economy: it is shaped by the people and their abilities, political and legal institutions, organization of the economy, natural and built environments, and culture and communication. Politics has been overwhelmingly authoritarian and coercive since the military seized power in 1952; consequently, the contributions address both the causes and consequences of unbalanced civil-military relations, military rule, and persisting authoritarianism in the political society. This multidisciplinary handbook serves a dual purpose of introducing readers to Egypt's history and contemporary political economy and as a comprehensive key resource for postgraduate students and academics interested in modern Egypt.

An overview of the political economy and development of contemporary Egypt, focusing on the nature and extent of economic reform and restructuring in the last twenty years.

Drawing on Khalid Ikram's extensive knowledge of economic policymaking at the highest levels, The Political Economy of Reforms in Egypt lays out the enduring features of the Egyptian economy and its performance since 1952 before presenting an account of policy-making, growth and structural change under the country's successive presidents to the present day.

A new assessment of the impact of power relations on economic development

Focusing on authoritarian rule, unresolved economic challenges, and external dependency, the volume explains the salient political and economic features of contemporary Egypt against the backdrop of its history since the beginning of the 19th century. Presenting a comprehensive account of developments, it challenges common assumptions about secularists, Islamists, and revolutionaries, as well as 'modernization', 'economic reform', and political stability. Discussing domestic politics, economic change, and external relations since 1945, the author argues that Egypt continued to draw a degree of strength from sustained state-building activities, which its pre-colonial rulers could pursue in a favourable international environment and the partly related emergence of the country as a focal point of collective identity. More consolidated than many other states in the global south, Arab and non-Arab alike, independent Egypt, despite changing economic strategies, remained a (lower) middle-income country and despite repeated political contestation, most recently in the Arab Spring, continued to suffer from autocratic rule. Such continuity reflects not only the interplay between political forces at home, dominated by the military, and inconclusive economic policies but also the external constraints under which governments and other actors in the global south have to act. Based on numerous primary and secondary sources in various languages, including Arabic, and years of fieldwork, the book is a key resource for scholars of all levels, journalists, policymakers, and diplomats interested in comparative politics and the political economy of the Middle East and Egypt.

Political Economy in the Modern State is Harold Innis’s transitional and, in some respects, his most transformative book. Completed in 1946, it is a collection of fifteen chapters plus a remarkable Preface selected and crafted to address four main themes: the problem of power and peace in the post-War era; the ascent of specialized and mechanized forms of knowledge involving, most particularly, the media, the state, and the academy; the crisis facing civilization and, more generally, the modern penchant for unreflexive short-term thinking in the face of mounting contradictions; and Innis’s growing focus on what would be called media bias. In this new edition, editors Robert E. Babe and Edward A. Comor provide not only a general introduction to Innis’s largely forgotten book but also dedicated introductions to each of its fifteen chapters and a comprehensive index. Together, Babe and Comor demonstrate how Innis’s volume reflects a shift in Innis’s focus, away from analytical relativism towards, instead, a reflexive search for objective truths.