TY - BOOK ID - 61361206 TI - Oil, Institutions and Sustainability in MENA : A Radical Approach through the Empowerment of Citizens AU - Akacem, Mohammed. AU - Miller, Dennis Dixon. AU - Faulkner, John Leonard. PY - 2020 SN - 3030259331 3030259315 PB - Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, DB - UniCat KW - Oil industries. KW - Oilseed industry KW - Petroleum industry and trade KW - Development economics. KW - Economic growth. KW - Economic policy. KW - Development Economics. KW - Economic Growth. KW - Economic Policy. KW - Economic nationalism KW - Economic planning KW - National planning KW - State planning KW - Economics KW - Planning KW - National security KW - Social policy KW - Development, Economic KW - Economic growth KW - Growth, Economic KW - Economic policy KW - Statics and dynamics (Social sciences) KW - Development economics KW - Resource curse KW - Economic development UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:61361206 AB - This book addresses the factors that have led to the lackluster economic performance of the oil MENA region, despite the wealth of its vast natural resource. It offers a radical policy recommendation as a way out. Using data from a wide variety of sources, it analyzes the major problems that confront the governments of the MENA region, and make the case why the status quo is unsustainable. Recently, Algeria has shown that people will tire of the status quo and will demand wholesale changes. At the core of the problem of corruption, rent seeking, waste, and lack of economic diversification, is the presence of oil and its control by the state. But oil by itself should help, not hinder MENA’s economic development. While historically, oil revenues may have contributed to the maintenance of corrupt institutions and rent seeking among oil-rich nations, the mere presence of such valuable natural resources need not be the problem. It argues for a plan to empower citizens and invert the power relationship, so that the citizen’s voices matter. For the spirit of the Arab Spring to be successful, the region must adopt significant institutional changes that embrace the rule of law, transparency, democratic accountability, and the protection of human and private rights. ER -