Resource regionalism in the Middle East and North Africa: Rich lands, neglected people

Abstract

This paper refers to this phenomenon as “resource regionalism.” While the term “resource nationalism” is used to refer to a state’s efforts to gain control over natural resources from foreign firms, resource regionalism refers to local demands in resource-abundant regions for further benefits from locally-generated resource revenues. In other words, roughly speaking, resource regionalism can be seen as a localized manifestation of resource nationalism. When spatial inequalities and social fragmentation increase, new groups start seeing the resources as an avenue to remedy their political and economic grievances by applying the logic of resource nationalism, but in a narrower regional context. Resource regionalism does not have to lead to separatism, but it can be particularly salient when inhabitants of a sub-state region see themselves potentially as members of a distinct “nation.”