Debating Arab Authoritarianism Dynamics and Durability in Nondemocratic Regimes by Oliver Schlumberger, ed. (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2007. 345 pages.)

Abstract

The Middle East has long contended with the title of the region most lacking
in democratic state structures, and while several countries endeavor to
enforce a form of democracy, yet others preserve the frameworks that efficiently
sustain their monarchies, revenue, and power status in the area. The
twin questions of how and why democracy has proved elusive in theMiddle
East forms the crux of the collection of essays comprised within Schlumberger’s
tome: Debating Arab Authoritarianism: Dynamics and Durability
in Nondemocratic Regimes.
Spanning Morocco to Oman, via Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, the
authoritarian mode of governance is surveyed through an assessment of the
durability of regimes, the role of Islamist political parties, intra-regime
dynamics, and the economic aspects of political reform. Divided into four
sections, the book’s structure incorporates key elements of Arab authoritarianism:
“State-Society Relations and Political Opposition,” “The Regimes,”
“The Economy and the Polity,” and “The InternationalArena.” That the sections
retain a subtle reluctance to address the link between the repressive
capacities ofArab states and their longevity, as well as the concept that Islam
is incompatible with democracy, is conspicuous, yet prudent. Far from
retreadingworn theories, the contributors provide fresh conceptual and comparative
analyses of individual countries and the region on a wider level, in
addition to prospects for the respective regimes ...