Oil, Ideology and State Autonomy in Egypt

Abstract

T HE OIL ECONOMY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, relating undeveloped producer states, industrial (mainly Western) consumer states, and populous, underdeveloped agricultural states as suppliers of labor, constitutes a complex political economy with its own cultural configurations. In part, it can be understood in terms of the general design of core-periphery trade and capital flows; but the unique features of the region are equally important. Oil economies have increased the state autonomy of the desert kingdoms visa-vis their societies beyond the degree colonialism gave them. The oil economies have also altered the relationships among states, not only between oil-producing countries (OPCs) and their consumers, but also between the OPCs and their suppliers of labor. In particular, the dramatic oil price rises in the 1970s created the conditions for a new relationship between Egypt and the Gulf countries.