Making sense of Saudi Arabia is crucially important today. The kingdom's western province contains the heart of Islam, and it is the United States' closest Arab ally and the largest producer of oil in the world. However, the country is undergoing rapid change: its aged leadership is ceding power...

The contributions to this collection examine the shortcomings of the economic development policies in the MENA region before and after the Arab Spring, with particular attention to the role of gender and the ways in which policies translate into economic outcomes