RABAT, Morocco — Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" has thrown a spotlight on the consequences of stagnant economies and endemic youth unemployment for the region's authoritarian Arab governments.
Less noticed is a key factor contributing to this malaise: the inability of the Maghreb countries — Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia — to increase their economic cooperation.
Indeed, the Arab Union estimates that the lack of regional integration costs each country two percentage points of annual GDP growth, while the African Economic Commission reckons that if a Maghreb Union existed, the five countries would each gain 5 percent in GDP. And the World Bank estimates that deeper integration, including liberalization of services and reform of investment rules, would have increased per capita real GDP in 2005-2015 by 34 percent for Algeria, 27 percent for Morocco and 24 percent for Tunisia.