Protectionism in Egypt and Iraq fueled corruption, stagnation, and smuggling—not prosperity.
When economic anxiety strikes, protectionist politicians reach for the same dusty playbook: Slap tariffs on imports, invoke the national interest, and promise that “local industries” will rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the markets the government just torched. The approach sounds pragmatic—even patriotic—but in practice, especially in the Middle East, it has been a spectacular failure. The United States should not follow the same dead-end road.
