Abstract
In global development, historically donor status has been attributed to Northern, Western agencies, in relation to a projected subservient recipient in the global South. The region of the Middle East complicates these simplistic dichotomies, with national and regional development agencies orchestrating development assistance within and across political, ideological, and territorial boundaries. In this chapter, I explore the terrain of international development assistance dedicated to the Middle East, demonstrating an endurance of modernization despite the changing characterization of development agencies and the emergence of regional actors. The reliance on global capital and the emergence of private agencies and actors means that the potential problems with modernization prevail. Consequently, assumptions about the role of communication are limited to entrepreneurial and market values, rather than recognizing potential to mobalize and advocate for social justice.