Page 35 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Lines in the Sand: The GCC in the Broader Middle East 21

whose work in the social sector varies widely among Middle
Eastern and North African (MENA) countries, uses the terms
“Southwest Asia,” “West Asia,” and “North Africa.”
A more genuine approach, rooted in the indigenous differenti-
ation within the region, is a three-cluster model. One cluster is
the Levant—known as Bilad al-Sham in Arabic—which includes
the Arab countries on the northern edge and northeast side of the
Arabian Peninsula: Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza, Syria,
Lebanon, and Iraq. A second cluster is North Africa, which spans
from Morocco to Egypt and, for our purpose, includes the Arabic-
speaking Sudan. Most countries of this region fall into the territory
traditionally called al-Maghreb, which means “the West” and the
place where the sun sets. Egypt is, in some ways, a cluster of its
own due to its size, history, and complexity—but as our focus is
elsewhere, we will include it in North Africa. The Gulf, called
al-Khaleej, or “the Peninsula,” consists of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) states and Yemen. Figure 1.1 shows the stark differ-
ences in income that characterize these three clusters.

Figure 1.1 GDP per capita varies greatly by cluster (Source: IMF data,
CIA World Factbook estimates [Iraq, West Bank, Gaza])