Nesrine Halima

January 2008

"Results Based Government in Arab States: Drivers, Barriers and Tensions"

Policy Brief

By Nesrine Halima, Former Research Associate, The Dubai Initiative, 2006-2007

The transnational movement of goods, services and ideas-the
process known as globalization-has had profound impact on national
government structures and how their administrations are managed.
In many respects, globalization has dissolved both material and
immaterial economic, social and even cultural boundaries. The
interplay between both these factors has made globalization an area of
interest and concern within the area of public administration. This policy
brief examines the relationship between globalization and resultsbased
government, and how global processes and trends have affected
the public sector in Arab states. The brief concludes that the variance
between the levels of progress in adopting and applying these tools of
public administration across the Arab world cannot be attributed to lack of political commitment alone, but also resides within the specific institutional and sociocultural histories of Arab states.