Militarism and Welfare Distribution in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

Most of the Middle Eastern and North Africa (MENA) countries display a significant contrast with the industrialized countries in terms of welfare distribution. This study sheds light on the political economic structures leading to good and poor welfare efforts spent in the MENA region with a particular emphasis on the militaristic aspects of states. The analysis of causal relationships between different configurations of conditions and welfare efforts spent by states is performed with a systematic method of inference making called the fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). For this comparison, eight countries–namely Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen–are selected based on their relevance to the topic and availability of the relevant data.aspects such as high amount of military expenditure, high number of armed forces personnel and praetorian relationship between the military and the government are associated with good welfare distribution. Since this is a qualitative study, it does not provide explanation about the net effects of each variable on the welfare distribution. It could, however, serve as a preliminary study that provides insights to future research on militarism and welfare distribution in the MENA region

Keywords

• Middle East and North Africa, militarism, welfare distribution, social policy, political economy, qualitative comparative analysis

References

1. Abu-Bader, S. and Abu-Qarn, A. S., 2003. Government Expenditures, Military Spending and Economic Growth: Causality Evidence from Egypt, Israel and Syria. Journal of Policy Modelling, 25(06), pp. 567-583.
2. Acemoglu, D. and Yared, P., 2010. Political Limits to Globalization. American Economic Review, 100(02), pp.83-88.
3. Alami, R. and Karshenas, M., 2012. Deficient Social Policies Have Helped Spark the Arab Spring. (CDPR Development Viewpoint 70) [online] London: School of Oriental and African Studies. (Published February 2012) Available at: [Accessed 10 December 2014].
4. Ardic, N., 2012. Understanding the ‘Arab Spring’: justice, dignity, religion and interna- tional politics. Afro Eurasian Studies, 1(1), pp. 8-52.
5. Arias, O., 1989. 1987 Address to the United States Congress. In: M. Edelman, and J. Ke- nan, eds. The Costa Rica Reader. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. pp. 368-374.
6. Bayat, A., 2006. The Political Economy of Social Policy in Egypt. In: M. Karshenas, and V. M. Moghadam, eds. Social Policy in the Middle East: Economic, Political, and Gen- der Dynamics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 135-154.
7. Baylouny, A. M., 2008. Militarizing Welfare: Neo-liberalism and Jordanian Policy. Middle East Journal, 62(02), pp. 277-303.
8. Behar, M. A., and Mok, M. J., 2013. Does Public-Sector Employment Fully Crowd Out Pri- vate-Sector Employment?. IMF Working Papers No. 13/146. International Mon- etary Fund.

9. Benoit, E., 1973. Defense and Economic Growth in Developing Countries. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
10. Benoit, E. 1978. Growth and Defense in Developing Countries, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 26(02), pp. 271-280.
11. Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), 2014. Global Militarization Index. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 December 2014].
12. Bowman, K. S., 2002. Militarization, Democracy, and Development: The Perils of Praetorian- ism in Latin America. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press.
13. Bullock, B. and Firebaugh, G., 1990. Guns and Butter? The Effect of Militarization on Economic and Social Development in the Third World. Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 18(02), pp. 231-266.
14. Cypher, J. M., 1991. Military Spending After the Cold War. Journal of Economic Issues, 25(02), pp. 607-615.
15. Dean, H. and Khan, Z. 1997. Muslim Perspectives on Welfare. Journal of Social Policy, 26(02), pp. 193-209.
16. Deger, S. and Sen, S., 1995. Military Expenditure in Developing Countries. In: K. Hartley, and T. Sandler, eds. Handbook of Defense Economics. Vol. 1. Amsterdam: North- Holland. pp. 270-302.
17. Ennaji, M., 2006. Social Policy in Morocco: History, Politics and Social Development. In: M. Karshenas, and V. M. Moghadam, eds. Social Policy in the Middle East: Econom- ic, Political, and Gender Dynamics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 109-134.
18. Henderson. E. A., 1998. Military Spending and Poverty. The Journal of Politics, 60(02), pp. 503-520.
19. Holden, C., 2005. Social Policy and Political Economy: A Tale of (at least) Two Disci- plines. Social Policy and Society, 4(02), pp. 173-182.
20. Huntington, S. P., 1957. The Soldier and The State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
21. Heritage Foundation, 2014. 2014 Index of Economic Freedom. [online] Available at: cessed 10 December 2014]. [Ac
22. International Labour Organization (ILO), 2011. World Social Security Report 2010/11: Providing Coverage in Times of Crisis and Beyond. [pdf] Geneva: Social Security Department. Available at: [Accessed 15 December 2014].
23. Jawad, R., 2009. Social Welfare and Religion in the Middle East: A Lebanese Perspective. Chi- cago: The University of Chicago Press.
24. Jawad, R. and Yakut-Çakar, B., 2010. Religion and Social Policy in the Middle East: The (Re)Constitution of an Old-New Partnership. Social Policy and Administration, 44(06), pp. 658-672.
25. Karshenas, M., and Moghadam, V. M., 2009. Bringing social policy back in: a look at the Middle East and North Africa. International Journal of Social Welfare, 18(S1), pp. S52-S61.
26. Karshenas, M., and Moghadam, V. M., 2006. Social Policy in the Middle East: Introduc- tion and Overview. In: M. Karshenas, and V. M. Moghadam, eds. Social Policy in the Middle East: Economic, Political, and Gender Dynamics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1-30.
27. Layachi, A., 2006. Algeria: Crisis, Transition and Social Policy Outcomes. In: M. Karsh- enas, and V. M. Moghadam, eds. Social Policy in the Middle East: Economic, Political, and Gender Dynamics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 78-108.
28. Marshall, T.H., 1964. Citizenship and social class. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
29. Ragin, C., 1987. The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of California Press.
30. Romdhane, M., 2006. Social Policy and Development in Tunisia since Independence: a Political Perspective. In: M. Karshenas, and V. M. Moghadam, eds. Social Policy in the Middle East: Economic, Political, and Gender Dynamics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 31-77.
31. Schwarz, R., 2008. The Political Economy of State-Formation in the Arab-Middle East: Rentier States, Economic Reform, and Democratization. Review of International Political Economy, 15(4), pp. 599-621.
32. Skocpol, T., 1995. Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
33. Tongur, U. and Elveren, A. Y., 2012. Military Expenditures, Inequality, and Welfare and Political Regimes: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis. [pdf] ERC Working Papers in Economics 12/10. Economic Research Center. Available at: [Accessed 10 November 2014].
34. U.S. Department of State, 2014. Foreign Military Financing Account Summary. [online] U.S. Department of State. Available at: [Accessed 12 December 2014].
35. Weede, E., 1992. Military Participation, Economic Growth, and Income Inequality. In: S. Chan, and A. Mintz, eds. Defense, Welfare and Growth: Perspective and Evidence. London: Routledge. pp. 211-230.
36. World Bank, 2014. Armed Forces Personnel (% of Total Labor Force). [online] Available at: [Accessed 12 December 2014].
37. Yıldırım, J. and Sezgin, S. 2002. Defence, Education and Health Expenditures in Turkey, 1924-96. Journal of Peace Research, 39(05), pp. 569-580.