Introduction: Global Perspectives and Regional Realities; L.Binder New and Recurring Forms of Poverty and Inequality in the Arab World; K.Chaudhry Illicit International Transactions: Implications for Reconstruction in Iraq, Palestine, and Algeria; B.Dillman Hydrocarbon Production As a Route to Economic Health: Complex Consequences; M.A. Tetreault Rebuilding without Resolution: The Lebanese Economy and State in the Post-Civil War Period; S.Makdisi Warn-Torn or Systematically Distorted? Rebuilding the Algerian Economy; M.R. Lowi No Quick Fix: Foreign Aid and State Performance in Yemen; S.Carapico An MDG-Based Strategy for Rebuilding the Post-Conflict Sudanese Economy; I.A.Elbadawi Afghanistan: Rebuilding and Transforming a Devastated Economy; M.G. Weinbaum The Road to Civil and Economic Meltdown: "Market Fundamentalism and Its Consequences in Iraq; B.Yousif