Middle East Economics and Development, Spring 2008 - Project 08-02

摘要

Significant questions exist concerning the effectiveness of U.S. policies with nations and peoples across this region. An address of these questions begs an analysis of the economic and sociopolitical conditions in countries in the Middle East, for these conditions inform their relationships with the U.S. This report provides such an analysis for countries chosen for particular strategic interest to the U.S., namely Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Current military conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan seek to provide a transition to stable, self-reliant, democratic states--a goal requiring economic development. In Iran, the government's lack of responsiveness to both U.S. and international pressures on key policy issues requires new thinking. Because the three countries are dissimilar cases, a separate evaluation of the conditions in each country was necessary. In order to ensure that analysis of core impediments to economic development and recommendations follow directly from these evaluations, what follows is presented as three standalone country studies.