{"id":21,"date":"2020-04-03T19:46:49","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T19:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/?p=21"},"modified":"2020-04-03T19:46:49","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T19:46:49","slug":"monarchies-in-the-modern-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/2020\/04\/03\/monarchies-in-the-modern-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Monarchies in the Modern Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the years since the Arab\u00a0uprisings of 2011<\/span>, political unrest has <\/span>spread and emerged<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>throughout the entire Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA<\/span>).<\/span>\u00a0But this distribution of political revolution in MENA is not what one would describe as \u201ceven.\u201d <\/span>Nearly <\/span>eac<\/span>h<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of the reg<\/span>imes<\/span> tha<\/span>t <\/span>have<\/span> significantly been impacted by this social mobil<\/span>i<\/span>zation<\/span>\u00a0all class<\/span>ify as autocratic governments, wh<\/span>ile monarchies largely escaped unscathed. <\/span>In a 2004 article regarding the survival of MENA <\/span>monarchies<\/span>, Russel Lucas <\/span>state<\/span>s<\/span> that the eight <\/span>monarchs who remain in power, \u201cnot only reign, but rule as well.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0This is indicative of <\/span>a fundamental question in political science that has emerged since 2011, which is <\/span>why certain types of monarchies have survived in MENA, and others have not. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The map here shows that from a global perspective, a vast majority of the remaining ruling<\/span> monarchies are in the MENA Region<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/images.search.yahoo.com\/yhs\/search;_ylt=AwrCmmZkkIde4HMA1wgPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=monarchies+in+middle+east+map&type=ANYS_A0KAY_ext_bsf&hspart=Lkry&hsimp=yhs-SF01&param1=mT_PZ3hcKIE8EQd7OYp07o5bPWH_wqIpLVaW-HaiR4jPACRNEoLWZh0Gcr9pYIXIxm72UajYb8jREhK4wvpqluSDszNRmrWcMNwHAS5VzblJXwIf_hSHDxse6GgYdpjEpjRMU__pdtymSUP7WPKKOilVDiLmBOlHEXflpVJLKhxs8XHt2aqZ3funRkku-v6iRpcoSPXHyKXgYPDiozlH4gTwXTk_NQiq1bBVsj7mD9QzMwsowzZEtxZkLL1r2fZk_0jn6YBWTACx_ARN6X_8&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-Lkry-SF01#id=0&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Findependista.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fpicture-1.png&action=click<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By their nature, monarchies are a sub-type of authoritarian regimes \u2013 and yes, monar<\/span>chies too, have further sub-types.<\/span> The first<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>monarchical<\/span> group<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>may be categorized as<\/span>\u00a0\u201crentier monarchies,\u201d which include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and <\/span>other GCC monarchies. States such as Jordan and Morocco are most ac<\/span>c<\/span>urately categorize<\/span>d as \u201cnon-rentier monarchies<\/span>,\u201d which since the uprisings of 2011, have developed their socioeconomic <\/span>infrastructure<\/span>. The <\/span>third <\/span>group is the failed monarchies. The 20<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0century saw the <\/span>dissolution<\/span> of many Middle Eastern royal families and <\/span>monarchs,<\/span> including Egypt, Iran, Syria, and Ir<\/span>aq<\/span> \u2013 nearly all by military coups or forceful <\/span>overthrow<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Each monarch<\/span> in MENA faces different geopolitical obstacles<\/span>,<\/span> as well as resource restrictions<\/span>,<\/span> in their efforts to <\/span>remain in power.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the main demographic challenges monarchs in this region face is the influx of young people, called the \u201cyouth bulge.\u201d The y<\/span>outh bulge\u00a0is the culmination of<\/span>\u00a0a frustrated <\/span>and educated\u00a0<\/span>society<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0that is<\/span> often<\/span> unemployed and <\/span>dissatisfied<\/span> in their government. This is often increased further due to high levels of corruption and succes<\/span>sion uncertainty in the royal family. Scholars describe this breakdown between society and the ruling class as \u201clinchpin monarchies,<\/span>\u201d in that there is a disconnect between the elites and the society. <\/span>These<\/span> uncheck<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Sultanistic<\/span>\u201d regimes with absolute dictators often<\/span> face being overthrown<\/span> due to a combination of these factors,<\/span>\u00a0s<\/span>uch was<\/span> the case with G<\/span>ad<\/span>dafi.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Faced with various challenges of differing natures, MENA monarchs often respond with efforts of legitimization<\/span> \u2013 which often does not include p<\/span>olitical reform. Coercion is often used to decrease levels of social mobilization against the monarchy, such as <\/span>violent repression in the form of riot shields and <\/span>tear gas<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Some regimes take a monetary approach and <\/span>award doles to families or provide cash rents within the domestic economy. Saudi Arabia\u2019s \u201c<\/span>Saudi 2030\u201d<\/span>\u00a0is a prime example of such efforts of economic diversification, that contemporary MENA economists preach. <\/span>From the religious perspective, Arab societies are hindered from revolting against unjust regimes because of an adherence to <\/span>Taq<\/span><\/i>wa. <\/span><\/i>This word in Islam is r<\/span>epresentative of their commitment to obedience to authority, having this \u201cfear of God,\u201d apply to their monarch as well.<\/span>\u00a0This is also aided by the fact that<\/span>\u00a0in <\/span>addition<\/span> to <\/span>MENA as a whole,<\/span>\u00a0numerous<\/span> GCC countrie<\/span>s have religious requisites for heads of state and monarchs \u2013<\/span>\u00a0seen below<\/span>\u00a0in the chart<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2014\/07\/FT_Heads_State.png<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Political liberalization is ultimately the greates<\/span>t defense monarchs have in the Middle Eastern Region. With<\/span> pushes for <\/span>democratization<\/span> occurring<\/span> all throughout the world, allowing for more pluralistic values and modernized domestic custom<\/span>s is the only way it seems monarchs will be able to survive the 21<\/span>st<\/span>\u00a0century in MENA.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By Drew Stern<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the years since the Arab\u00a0uprisings of 2011, political unrest has spread and emerged\u00a0throughout the entire Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA).\u00a0But this distribution of political revolution in MENA is not what one would describe as \u201ceven.\u201d Nearly each\u00a0of the regimes that have significantly been impacted by this social mobilization\u00a0all classify as autocratic governments, while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4041,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4041"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sternd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}