The Arab State and Neo-liberal Globalization: The Restructuring of State Power in the Middle East - Tapa dura

A refreshing take not only on the subject matter of changing patters of authority in the Arab world but also on the development of a cohesive and integrated edited volume If nothing else, this work serves as an example of how an edited volume need not be a collage of disparate works, but can be an effective tool and one enabling a vast research project. Ultimately, Guazzone and Pioppi s volume is something that scholars of both the Arab world and transitional societies should be excited to read. It represents not only a shaking of conceptual foundations, but an active effort toward re-orienting our understandings of how political transformation and authoritarian resilience in this region can be re-articulated. --Benjamin MacQueen, Monash University in Walker, David , MacQueen, Benjamin , Deflem, Mathieu andO'Keefe, Michael P.(2010) 'BOOK REVIEWS', Global Change, Peace & Security, 22: 1, 149 154

This collection of essays by leading academics offers an alternative approach to the study of today's Arab states by focusing on their participation in neo-liberal globalization rather than on authoritarianism or Islam. The effects of the restructuring of traditional state power engendered by globalization are analyzed separately, through updated empirical research in the political, economic and security processes of each country considered. Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Saudi Arabia are the case studies selected to represent different paths towards a shared model of 'new' Arab state which, far from representing an exceptional case of resilience against global trends, may be seen in many instances as typifying their effects. This book thus offers both an overall conceptualization of change affecting the Arab states, domestically and in their relations with the international system, and a series of in-depth case studies by country and functional areas.