POLI SCI 351 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Arab Spring, Paternalism, Wahhabism
24 May 2018
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Monarchies in the Middle East
• Created in the 20th century
• Instruments of imperial rule (especially Great Britain)
o Monarchs made for reliable allies
o Hereditary succession made for a reliable form of governance in a
colonial territory because there is no uncertainty (no elections, etc)
▪ Family as ruling institution (Herb)
▪ Shapes political competition
• Rather than trying to win office, it is a game of getting close
to people who hold office
• Monarchies overthrown
o Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Iran
o Coups thwarted in Jordan, Morocco
• What strategies of rule allowed successful monarchies to remain in power?
• Monarchies fared better in Arab spring than republics did
Kings as rulers
• Supreme powers
• Arbiter role
o Symbol of national unity, embodying the nation rather than the politics
o Above politics
• Monarchy claims legitimacy
o Historical, hereditary, religious
o Legitimacy: uncoerced recognition of just authority
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• 1946: independence from Britain, 1949: Hashemite Kingdom declared
• Kings:
o Abdullah (assassinated 1951)
o Hussein (rule 1953 - 99)
o Abdullah II (since 1999)
• Social bases of rule
o Monarchy and coterie (“Diwan”)
o Tribal alliances
o Loyal army and security establishment
• Challenges faced by Jordan:
o Lack of resources (oil, good land, water)
o Arab-Israeli conflict
▪ Wars of 1948 and 1967
▪ Territory (West Bank annexed in 1950, lost in 1967)
▪ Population
• Waves of refugees, Palestinians have citizenship
• 60% of Jordan’s population today is Palestinian
• East banker / Palestinian cleavage within Jordan
▪ Other refugee waves (Iraq, Syria)
o 1957 coup attempt
o 1970 Jordan-PLO war
• Strategies of rule:
o Distribution of benefits - distributing welfare to population
o Political openings/closings
▪ Dissolve parliament
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