The continuing economic stagnation of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has typically been explained in terms of the resource-curse thesis. Yet, without analyzing the geographical constraints of MENA and the institutions of the region, particularly ones that pertain to land and property rights, this explanation is partial at best. Specifically addressing the structural constraints on using land for economic transformation, we offer a new explanation for the underdevelopment of MENA. We show that transformation in agriculture is inhibited by fuzzy property rights in land that were inherited from colonial and post-colonial agricultural policies. Political-economic transformation in MENA could unleash the power of land in the region.