This text is designed to introduce the undergraduate and postgraduate student to the most pressing and topical economic issues in the contemporary Middle East. It includes coverage of the entire region and charts and growth of economic power in the Gulf. It has thematic chapters on finance, population, the role of the state, the influence of Islam, investment, international trade, oil and theories of economic development. In addition there are rich pedagogical resources such as boxed case studies, study questions and suggestions for further reading.