Ali Kadri examines how over the last three decades the Arab world has undergone a process of developmental descent, or de-development. Driven by their own class proclivity and as a result of successive defeats in wars, loss of security and sovereignty, Arab ruling classes have metamorphosed into fully compradorial classes that have relinquished autonomy over policy. The neoliberal policies adopted since the early eighties are not developmental policies, but the terms of surrender by which Arab resources human or otherwise are stifled or usurped. Kadri attributes the Arab world's developmental failure not only to imperialist hegemony over oil, but also to the rising role of financialisation, which goes hand in hand with the wars of encroachment that strip the Arab world of its resources.