I found this passage to be very helpful in framing some of my thoughts.
From Marcus Noland and Howard Pack, The Arab Economies in a Changing World, (Washington DC: Peterson Institute, 2007):
"Across the region there is a tendency to rely on centralized regulatory intervention to facilitate the creation of economic rents and their channeling to politically preferred groups. By implication, cross-border economic integration, whether globally or regionally, is discouraged: Opening up would imply a loss of control and the concomitant ability to rig the local market to the benefit of regime supporters. All of this militates against a vibrant private sector that could promote increased productivity, employment, and growth. This combination of political illegitimacy and policy intervention makes it difficult for these economies to liberalize: Reform and the erosion of rents could undermine the very basis for political loyalty."
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Those in power control the next level by ensuring they rely on the table scraps enough no to bite the hand……control mentality is an integral part of society. Having foreign workers enables even the national who is at the bottom of the dung heap to control somebody.Heaven forbid that any body outside the control system has rights supported by an outside entity
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