Ali Kadri examines how over the last three decades the Arab world has undergone a process of developmental descent, or de-development, under the combined barrage of wars and neoliberal policies.
If anything, nations of the global South must rid themselves of neoliberally imposed ‘one-size-fits all’ models, instrumentalised to shift value to US empire. Developing nations need to search for the theory that corresponds to their own conditions and development strategies.
This work compares the development experiences of East Asia and the Arab world. For East Asia, it's through manufacturing of civilian-end use commodities and for the Arab World, through militarism.