Over the last hundred years, the Middle East has been one of the most troubled regions in the world. According to the Economist, “With barely an exception, [the Arab world’s] autocratic rulers, whether presidents or kings, give up their authority only when they die; its elections are a sick joke; half its people are treated as lesser legal and economic beings, and more than half its young, burdened by joblessness and stifled by conservative religious tradition, are said to want to get out of the place as soon as they can.” However, at one time, the Middle East eclipsed the West in intellectual, scientific, and literary achievements. To examine what factors contribute to the Middle East’s present circumstances, a team of scholars, headed by Egyptian sociologist Nader Fergany, published the Arab Human Development...