Acta Oeconomica
Volume/Issue:
Volume 66: Issue 2
The Arab and post-communist transitions: Similarities, differences, and common lessons
Author:
Marek Dabrowski Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

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Pages:
181–212
Online Publication Date:
Jun 2016
Publication Date:
01 Jun 2016
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/032.2016.66.2.1
Keywords:
post-communist transition; Arab Spring; political reform; economic reform; macroeconomic stabilisation; development issues; energy subsidies; conflict; E62; E63; F15; H24; H56; H62; H63; I25; O15; P21; P22; P51
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At the onset of the mass protests in 2010–2011, many politicians and experts suggested that Arab countries could learn from the experiences of the post-communist transition of the early 1990s. However, the geopolitical, historical, and socio-economic context of the Arab transition was different in many respects from that of the former Soviet bloc countries 20 years earlier. These differences became even more obvious five years later, in early 2016, when most Arab transition attempts ended either in a new wave of authoritarianism, or protracted bloody conflicts. Nonetheless, there are some common lessons to be learnt from the history of both transitions. They concern interrelations between the political and economic transition, the role of institutional checks and balances and the rule of law, the speed of reforms, the dangers of ethnic and sectarian conflicts, and the role of external support.

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Cover Acta Oeconomica
Acta Oeconomica Periodical of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Print ISSN:
0001-6373
Online ISSN:
1588-2659

Senior editors

Editors-in-Chief: István P. Székely, Dóra Győrffy

Editor(s): Judit Ványai

Associate Editors

  • Péter Benczúr, Joint Joint Research Center, European Commission
  • Dóra Benedek, International Monetary Fund
  • Balázs Égert, OECD
  • Dániel Prinz, World Bank
  • Rok Spruk, University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, Slovenia

Editorial Board

  • Anders Åslund, Georgetown University and Advisory Council of CASE, USA
  • István Benczes, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary 
  • Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
  • Fabrizio Coricelli, University of Siena, Italy
  • László Csaba, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary and Central European University, Austria
  • Beáta Farkas, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Szeged, Hungary
  • Péter Halmai, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and National University of Public Service, Hungary
  • Martin Kahanec, Central European University, Austria
  • Michael Landesmann, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW), Austria
  • Péter Mihályi, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
  • Debora Revoltella, European Investment Bank

Corvinus University of Budapest
Department of Economics
Fővám tér 8 Budapest, H-1093, Hungary
E-mail: vanyai.judit@krtk.hu  

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Acta Oeconomica
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 1966
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 4
Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
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ISSN 0001-6373 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2659 (Online)

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