Description
This paper examines the role of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in advancing regional economic integration and contributing to political cooperation and peace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While regional trade agreements such as GAFTA, Agadir Agreement, GCC have been central to conventional integration strategies, MENA remains one of the least economically integrated regions in the world. Intra-regional trade constitutes only 2.9% of the region’s GDP, significantly lower than the global average of 7.9% and far behind the EU’s 22%. SEZs represent a largely underexplored mechanism within the literature on international political economy and regionalism. Despite their proliferation across MENA, from 47 in 2009 to over 200 in 2024, empirical and theoretical analyses of their impact on inter-state relations remain limited. The study situates SEZs within the framework of liberal theory, particularly Commercial Institutional Peace theory, which argues that economic interdependence promotes cooperation and reduces conflict. However, drawing on critiques from realist and critical IPE traditions, this research questions the assumption that deeper economic ties produce political stability. This study employs a dyadic mixed-methods design, analysing SEZ-related trade and political data across MENA states from 1995 to 2022.
