This integrated, analytic text presents a comprehensive analysis transformation and development of the political economy in the Middle East over the past several decades. In this updated third edition of A Political Economy of the Middle East, the book retains its focus on the interaction of economic development processes, state systems, and social actors even as it also: Explores the impact of the Arab Spring and subsequent events to the issues raised throughout the textbook in a wholly new chapter; Documents the many changes in demography, education, labor markets, urbanization, water and agriculture, and international labor migration in the Middle East in recent years; Considers the effect of rising oil prices on reinforcement of authoritarian governance in the region; Refines its assessment of "the Washington Consensus" to provide a more nuanced approach to the issue of the shifting balance of state and market in economic growth and reform; Presents Islamism as a vital force in the region that is nonetheless a vast, diverse social movement with many conflicting participants.