In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Preface The Middle East and North Africa region has been lagging behind much of the developing world in integrating into the world economy, as measured by the ratio of trade to GDP, growth of nontraditional exports, the share of intraindustry trade, and inward foreign direct investment flows. The papers collected in this book analyze the recent trade performance of Arab countries and the trade policy strategies that have been pursued by governments in the region. Preferential trade agreements, both among Arab countries and between Arab countries and the European Union, have become a major instrument of trade policy reforms in the region. Many of the contributions to this volume explore the implications of the regional integration strategies that are being implemented and discuss options that might be considered by governments to further the objective of greater integration into the world economy. Acknowledgements A number of the papers that are included were originally prepared for other purposes and required significant reworking. We are very grateful to the authors of the papers for agreeing to undertake revisions and to have their work published in this book. We are also indebted to two anonymous referees for constructive comments on the draft manuscript, to Susan Al-Baker for copyediting and putting together the camera-ready manuscript, to Maria Kasilag for helping finalize the manuscript, and to Ellen McCarthy of the University of Michigan Press for helping to bring this project to fruition. Disclaimer All opinions expressed by the authors are strictly personal and should not be attributed to any government, official agency, or institution with which they may be, or have been, affiliated. Bernard Hoekman and Jamel Zarrouk ...

Share