Images of the “good” monarch in popular culture depict a ruler whose crown weighs heavy upon his head for the immense tasks and stresses that comes with leading an entire nation of people, but this image cannot be applied to the Middle East and North Africa. Shakespeare’s line, “Uneasy lies the head,” would serve as a much better image for the monarchs of this region, who live in a constant state of worry beneath the veil of their illustrious life styles.

Their worry is not without valid reason, however, as when a ruler is deposed in MENA, their fate, as well as the fate of their entire family is often incredibly grim whether it be at the hands of a military coup or popular uprising. Fear of a potential uprising causes monarchs of MENA to invest enormous amounts of money into well developed coercive apparatuses, which operate in a variety of ways to instill fear in the people and if need be, put down attempts at uprising or change from any source. These systems vary in their severity, with a notable example being in Saudi Arabia, where even something as minute to us in the west as retweeting something suggesting a view against the monarchy can lead to a person arrest, or worse.

Monarchies also carry another, less violent advantage which can be used to keep themselves in power within their countries. In spite of all the rhetoric of western countries like the United States and the European Union against authoritarian states and in favor of democracy, these countries prefer doing business with monarchs and other authoritarian systems. By dealing with sometimes the wishes of a single man or family as opposed to the wishes of the entire population which comes through a democracy, outside actors can more easily reach deals with these countries to further their own agendas economically, and geopolitically. We have routinely seen monarchs and other authoritarian rulers warn western countries about what would happen if they were to lose power, and this has prevented any outside actor from investing too heavily in any revolt against monarchs, beyond words of encouragement, that is.

Another common tactic used by monarchies is the appointment of figure heads such as prime ministers who appear to be in charge of what is happening in the country so when things go wrong and the people consider resisting the ruling monarchy, the king may step in and blame the poor state on someone else and act as a benevolent ruler helping his people. Other than general uprising from their own people, monarchs of MENA fear the possibility of the military deciding to overthrow them, as seen countless times to countless government types in the region alone. This leads to the military being kept incredibly close to the royal family, with generals receiving high pay or positions of responsibility being given to close friends or members of the family itself. All of this serves to keep the monarch less uneasy about the future, for they know that should the day come when their rule comes crumbling down, the best they can hope for is the life of fugitive, fleeing their home and never hoping to return.