Ethnicity in the Middle East and Neighboring Regions: Developing Appropriate Economic Strategies and Policies

Abstract

Indigenous people and ethnic minorities face economic and social pressures that potentially disturb the social order, undercut cooperation, and spawn distrust. Such pressures can threaten prosperity, peace, and security for all. Strategies are needed that help distinctive groups gain parity, self-determinism, and sustainability. Supplementing neoclassical economic models with more socially relevant paradigms (such as substantive economic anthropology and the triple bottom line) are means of doing so. Regions ethnic groups are showcased to demonstrate the value of such an approach.