Advanced Sultanism: A Category Emerges

Abstract

The first of two summary discussions, this chapter begins by assessing the extent to which MBS and MBZ’s regimes converge or diverge with other examples of contemporary sultanism. With regard to convergence, it notes: their political patronage networks; their dominance over economic affairs; the extent to which their extended families have served as surrogates for ruling parties; their tightening up of almost all civil society and media organizations; their increasing control over military forces and security services (including the development of more potent praetorian guards); the apparently non-ideological nature of their regimes; and—with some caveats—their erection of personal charismatic façades. With regard to divergence, it notes: Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s relatively well-performing health and education systems; their advances in women’s access to education and health; their fairly positive economic development indicators; their strong global economic integration; and what seems to have been a genuine reduction in corruption. Seeking to explain these divergences, the chapter suggests that Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s rentier state legacies combined with their continuing use of Western and other advanced economy consultants are key to understanding MBS and MBZ’s more ‘advanced’ strain of sultanism. In this context, ‘advanced sultanism’ is posited as an important new sub-set of contemporary sultanism.