NON-DEMOCRATIC STATES AND POLITICAL LIBERALIZATION IN THE MIDDLE-EAST- A STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS

Despite significant historical and structural differences that separat e them, Middle Eastern states have almost uniformly been able to withs tand popular pressures for political liberalisation. In each case, the non-democratic state's resilience in relation to society al ises out of a different set of dynamics. Exclusionary states, whether relying o n their intelligence services (mukhaberat) or directly on the military , have succeeded in depoliticising society through repression and enti cing fear of political endeavours among the population. Inclusionary s tates, having turned streets and neighbourhoods into political theatre s, have successfully diverted popular political energies into projects that actually sustain the very basis of the regime. Of the sultanisti c states, however, only those with substantial oil wealth and a small population base have been able to effectively placate demands for poli tical participation and accountability. The 'civic myth' monarchies, o f which Jordan and Morocco are prime examples, have found it necessary to embark on limited but highly trumpeted processes of political libe ralisation, if only as a necessary survival strategy. Elsewhere in the Middle East, however, the structural make-lip of various state types make them largely immune to pressures for liberalisation.