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To study authoritarianism and regime change in MENA one has to use an array of tools to fully understand the region. Economic and political factors of a regime are integral to understanding it, but looking at only these factors leads to an incomplete understanding of Middle Eastern regimes. Political scientists have realized that MENA regimes…

In the Middle East and North Africa, monarchs are constantly facing internal and external opposition to their rule. With democracies popping up in other developing regions it has become clear that MENA is well behind the curve when it comes to regime change. Despite all of the social, economic and, political pressures MENA monarchies have…

The Sahara desert is rapidly encroaching on Southern Tunisia, ruining the farmlands forcing the citizens to raise the question of what their future will look like. Desertification in Southern Tunisia is making the state’s ability to be food independent nearly impossible. Water scarcity is among the worst of these issues. Farmers in the region have…

In Michael Ross’ article, ‘Does Oil Hinder Democracy?‘ he comes to the conclusion that oil rents do cause significant damage to political and social outcomes in the Middle East and North Africa. The abnormally large oil rents in the Middle East and North Africa are the main cause of the lack of democratization and the…

In Lisa Anderson’s 2006 article SEARCHING WHERE THE LIGHT SHINES: Studying Democratization in the Middle East she explores the the challenges and complexities of studying democratization in the Middle East. Anderson explores other political scientists’ attempts to solve why there has been so few governments who have democratized. Many of the angles that other political scientists…

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