The search for sovereignty in an insecure world -- The origins of the presidential security state -- Basic components of the regimes -- Centralized state systems in Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, and Algeria -- Presidents as managers in Sudan, Libya, and Yemen -- Constrained presidencies in Lebanon and Iraq after Hussein -- The monarchical security states of Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, and Oman -- The politics of succession -- The question of Arab exceptionalism -- The sudden fall.
Summary
The monarchical presidential regimes that prevailed in the Arab world for so long looked as though they would last indefinitely.until events in Tunisia and Egypt made clear their time was up. This book exposes for the first time the origins and dynamics of a governmental system that largely defined the Arab Middle East in the 20th century.
