Democratisation in the Middle East and North Africa: What is the Effect of Globalisation?

Abstract Is ‘Islam’ inherently un‐ or anti‐democratic? Is the fact that Islam is the majority religion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) sufficient explanation as to why the region exhibits a decided lack of democracy? How, if at all, does globalisation affect democratisation in the MENA? To examine these issues, the article is divided into the following sections. After a brief introductory section, the second section turns to an examination of how Islam and globalisation interact in the MENA. The third section examines how globalisation offers both challenges and opportunities for Islam. The fourth section is concerned with western perceptions of Islam before and after 11 September 2001. The fifth section looks at Islam and democratisation in the MENA and traces the impact of globalisation. The overall conclusion is that globalisation – with its material and non‐material characteristics – does not have a great impact on democratisation outcomes in the MENA. This is mainly because the external factors collected under the rubric of globalisation are ultimately less influential in MENA countries which have highly influential sets of domestic factors that reflect long periods of internal social, cultural and political development.