Why Has the Middle East Been so Slow to Globalize?

Over the last several decades, the economic performance of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has lagged behind many other parts of the world. While a number of factors have been cited as the cause of the region's malaise, the lack of globalization is increasingly mentioned as a possible source of difficulty. Focusing on the factors responsible for increased levels of globalization, it appears that internal policy reforms rather than external constraints are primarily responsible for the relative integration of the MENA countries into the world economy. Of the areas of policy under the direct control of MENA governments, improvements in several categories of governance, rather than further economic reforms, appear most effective in the attainment of increased levels of globalization.