Abstract
By utilizing a variety of internal and external survival strategies, the regimes in power, which were already labeled as anachronisms in the second half of the preceding century, have managed to maintain their stability. The political arrangements behind these autocratic states, however, are coming under growing pressure, with considerable sections of the population challenging the ruling elites. A balanced policy composed on the one hand of willingness on the part of sultans and emirs to open the political system in response to what the times require, and on the other hand the publics willingness to settle for half of its aspirations, can aid the monarchies in their battle for survival.
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Notes
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), “Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry” December 10, 2011 (initially presented November 23, 2011).
BBC News, “Saudi Arabia Court Jails Activists Qahtani and Hamid,” March 9, 2013.
Al Jazeera, “Amnesty: Qatari Blogger Detained,” March 5, 2011.
Asharq Al-Awsat, “Newly Appointed Shura Council Member Hails King Abdullah’s ‘Historic’ decree,” January 12, 2013.
Al-Jazeera, “Qatar to Hold Legislative Elections in 2013,” November 1, 2011.
Orit Perlov and Yoel Guzansky, “The Social Media Discourse in Saudi Arabia: The Conservative and Radical Camps are the Dominant Voices,” INSS Insight No. 511, February 5, 2014.
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© 2015 Yoel Guzansky
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Guzansky, Y. (2015). Stability and the “Arab Spring”. In: The Arab Gulf States and Reform in the Middle East: Between Iran and the “Arab Spring”. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137467836_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137467836_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50009-3
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