 | Dubai's new Burj tower symbolizes the potential for economic development in the Middle East. (Image courtesy Burj Dubai Skyscraper official website). |
In the few days since I last blogged, conflict in the Middle East has ratcheted up with a consequent loss of life.The Lebanese army, determined to remove a suspected al-Qaeda cell from its refuge in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, north of Tripoli, has sparked a major confrontation. The situation between Israel and Hamas inside and outside of Gaza has seriously escalated. It’s no wonder then that Robert Thomson, editor of The Times, reminded us this week, “The words ‘Middle East’ connote conflict and chaos.” Announcing his newspaper’s launch of a Middle East edition, he was making the point that social and economic development in the whole region suffers from the perception of generalized instability caused by the few. When he cited the energy coming from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, he brought to mind four points made by Shimon Peres more than a decade ago in his book, The New Middle East, proposing an MEEC—a Middle East Economic Community.
In the euphoria that followed the Oslo Agreement, Peres cited four “economic-political belts” wrapping the region. Each has to be overcome to release the region’s economic potential and raise standards of living, obviating the attraction of fundamentalism.
1. The problem of armaments: Disarmament at a 50% rate would free billions for economic development without compromising security. 2. The challenge of water resources, biotechnology and the desert environment: Joint projects lead to friendship and understanding. 3. The need for transportation and communications infrastructure: Economic progress is pure theory without these essentials. 4. The possibilities of much increased tourism across the region: Tourism brings a rapid return on investment, encourages peace and flourishes amid security. Several years later, as Speaker of the Knesset, Peres held out the same kind of hope for his own immediate surroundings. In Jerusalem, he told me, “for the sake of Israel being democratic and Jewish, we need a Palestinian state. Not just a Palestinian state, but a democratic Palestinian state. Not just a democratic Palestinian state, but an affluent Palestinian state. . . . From our point of view, the better the Palestinians shall have it, the better a neighbor we shall have.”
David Hulme | 
