Immortal Monarchies? Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, and the Arab Spring

At first glance it appears that the Gulf monarchies were unaffected by the Arab Spring, and were instead blessed with greater endurance and survivability than the “republican” Arab regimes. However, the Arab Gulf monarchies were not exceptions because they were monarchies. To a large extent, they have so far withstood the tidal wave of popular uprisings because most of them enjoy material capabilities that enable them – up to a point – to buy off internal opponents and acquire outside support. Meantime, the failure to date of the revolutions to fulfill the expectations of the Arab peoples has weakened the momentum of the Arab Spring, and has consequently removed this threat to most of the Gulf monarchies, if only temporarily.