The many groupings of developing countries formed in the fifties and sixties with a view to establishing a customs union have failed to achieve convincing results so far. Would another integration strategy have been more successful?

Since the late 1970s, financial institutions (banks, investment companies, insurance companies) have grown up in many countries in the Moslem world with the intention of conducting their business in accordance with Islamic, or Shariah, law. Above all else, this means business involving no...