Doing Research in the (New) Middle East: Sailing with the Wind

Monumental changes are taking place in the Arab Middle East, raising hopes that political and economic freedoms will take hold in this troubled region. Citizens of this region have the opportunity to choose political ideologies that can fuel innovation and entrepreneurship, which ultimately can transform their economies and improve their quality of life. They will also have to connect with the rest of the world to attract talent, capital, new technology, and modern systems of management and organization. In this article, I sketch out some of these changes and the opportunities they offer management scholars. I also outline the key challenges scholars are likely to encounter and how to address them.