Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

When studying authoritarianism, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, what we can question is what are the most important to help us analyze this phenomenon? It is better a close view on every specific case or it makes more sense to have a wider thematic study? Single-detailed specific studies, as Lisa…

In MENA region, directly eight nations (Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) are ruled by monarchies. In contrast, monarchs in neighboring Middle Eastern countries like Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Iran have lost their power. The defining characteristics of these remaining monarchs, which include maliks, amirs, and sultans,…

When we talk about “Rentierism”, we refer to a situation in which a state owns natural resources and the rents are paid by foreign actors. We know that Middle East countries are the biggest producers of oil in the world, so a question among Middle East scholars came up: is it possible that oil wealth…

We are now in the mid-1970s, worldwide embrace of democratic institutions that began after the end of Cold War. And then we are in Middle East and North Africa countries: cut out from the process. Scientists, students, experts are becoming demoralized, and struggling, and looking for an answer at the question: What went wrong?  …