Migrants, workers and refugees: the political economy of population movements in the Middle East.

The author investigates causes and consequences of migratory movements in the Middle East. "Two factors--integration into the world labor market and the fragility of integration within the separate states--largely explain why conflicts in the Middle East have in recent years produced the greatest refugee flows of any region in the world.... The crisis of the secular nation-state in the Middle East will continue as states become either politically or economically more dependent on outside protection or assistance. The challenge by Islamist movements is also likely to undermine national cohesion by politicizing religious identity."