The purpose of this essay is to describe and to evaluate the effects of the process of globalization on countries that are located in the Middle East. When such a study purpose is advanced by most members of developed economies outside of the Middle East region, there typically are two unstated, biased assumptions that underlie the study focus. The first of these usually unstated assumptions is that the process of globalization is a phenomenon of relatively recent origin. The second usually unstated assumption is that countries in the Middle East will undergo changes by adopting practices, values, behaviors, and so forth that are prevalent in the developed economies that are located outside of the Middle East. The first of these assumptions is incorrect. The second assumption may or may be correct in relation to each specific country that is located in the Middle East; however, there is no compelling justification for an assumption that it must be correct.
Lewis and Harris (1992) defined globalization as "economic convergence and the diffusion of innovation" (p. 114). This definition implies that (a) the economic practices and motivations of different countries are going to become more similar to one another and (b) the advanced knowledge (innovation) is going to flow from the developed economies to the economies that are perceived to be less advanced. Lewis and Harris (1992), while advancing their arguments related to globalization, noted, however, that the process of globalization has been occurring since the days of the Phoenician traders of antiquity. They noted that this early form of globalization involved the diffusion of "innovations almost entirely through the movement of products (trade) to small centers of development scattered around the Mediterranean" (Lewis and Harris, 1992, p. 114). Lewis and Harris (1992) added that the "diffusion of process technology" followed the diffusion of innovation through trad...