Mohamed Saleh, economist: "The rise of colonialism consolidated the Middle East's role as an exporter of primary products during the 19th century, which weakened its attempts at industrialization".

From a historical perspective, as the researcher explained, the Middle East began its process of integration into the new world order generated by globalization in the 19th century. From 1850 onwards, a large part of the region, which was then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, began to play an assigned role. This role consisted, essentially, in being one of the main exporters of primary products or raw materials. This first stage lasted approximately from 1850 until World War I and was characterized by a period of free trade with very low tariffs. Mohamed Saleh, an expert in the history of Economics and Political Economics at the London School of Economics, gave a seminar on "Religious Competition and Public Service Provision" at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra, as part of the ICS 24-25challenge . The researcher shared his programs of study on the historical process of globalization in the Middle East and the provision of public services in the region.

One of the topics he developed with special observation was the relationship between religion and the state due to the historical presence of Islam in the region. In this regard, Saleh explained that the predominant perception that has settled around the union between power and religion is the one propagated by historians such as Bernard Lewis: "According to this theory, one of the causes of the political problems in the Middle East is the very close relationship between Islam and the state. This seems to differ from Christianity, where church and state are separate." For the researcher, although this interpretation has elements of truth, it tends to be a very general and simplistic view: "This analysis does not take into account the various interpretations of Islam throughout history. Moreover, it does not consider how the state has influenced religion and how political contexts shape religious institutions."

Another historical issue that has marked the identity of the Eastern world is the undeniable influence of oil in Economics, international relations and governments. On this topic, the researcher pointed out that since it is a rentier Economics , the state generates income by selling oil without depending on taxes from the population: "This allows the elite to monopolize wealth and reduces the need to negotiate with citizens on economic and social policies", he affirmed.

Finally, Saleh noted that recent years have seen changes in the relationship between government and religion, such as the reforms in Saudi Arabia that have reduced the influence of Wahhabism (an ultra-conservative current of Sunni Islam that promoted a strict and puritanical interpretation of Islam). The researcher concluded that "this shows that religious interpretation is not static; it evolves over time and responds to both popular pressures and state decisions".