Abstract

This article deals with the problematic of self-sufficient development at the theoretical level and in the context of globalization, especially in regard to how the various predominant Western conceptions of such have been understood, analyzed, questioned and/or adapted in the Arab world. The author explores the question of viable development and accumulation in countries emerging from systems of pre-capitalist relations, and attempts to assess whether or not Western expectations and policies – such as those of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations – are germane to or feasible in such nations and whether or not they facilitate self-reliance or actually impede or militate against it. Taken into consideration are the major theories of exogenous and endogenous growth as well as the impact of international economic and monetary unions in the context of globalization.