Abstract:
This article attempts to examine popular uprisings in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa from the perspective of the political economy of oil. In this regard, based on a multivariate analytical model, the article analyzes both the causes of the emergence of uprisings and the causes of the different directions of developments during the popular uprisings in the Arab countries of the region that began in late 2010. The article shows that all countries in the Middle East and North Africa region share a common characteristic in their political economy, which can be explained based on reliance on foreign rents. The type and volume of these rents and the degree of reliance on them vary among the countries in the region; however, the significant presence of foreign rents is widespread everywhere and affects political stability in different ways. The most important question of the article is how the political economy of oil in the Middle East has influenced the emergence of popular uprisings and the course of their evolution in the Arab countries of the region? The hypothesis presented in response to this question is that the political economy of oil in the Arab countries of the Middle East has played a major role in the emergence of popular uprisings due to the production of rigid rentier structures, and at the same time, different combinations of rentier incomes with a spectrum of domestic and foreign political and social mediating variables have resulted in different courses of developments during the popular uprisings in the countries of the region. To test the hypothesis, the article employs a new theoretical approach in oil and politics studies and provides an analysis based on it, in which the effects of foreign rents at domestic, regional, and extra-regional levels are simultaneously considered regarding the internal stability of Arab countries. This approach prevents reductionist approaches in analyzing the causes of popular uprisings in Arab countries and is also able to explain to a large extent the reasons for the differing fates of countries during these events. The article analyzes a range of quantitative and qualitative data using analytical and descriptive methods in line with testing the hypothesis.
Machine summary:
To test the hypothesis, the article employs a new theoretical approach in oil and politics studies and provides an analysis based on which the effects of external rents at domestic, regional, and supra-regional levels on the internal stability of Arab countries are considered simultaneously.
The hypothesis presented in response to this question is that the political economy of oil in the Arab countries of the Middle East has played a major role in the emergence of popular uprisings due to the production of rigid rentier structures and, at the same time, different combinations of rentier incomes with a spectrum of internal and external mediating political and social variables have resulted in different courses of transformations during the popular uprisings in the countries of the region.
The hypothesis presented in response to this question is that the political economy of oil in the Arab countries of the Middle East has played a major role in the emergence of popular uprisings due to the production of rigid rentier structures and, at the same time, different combinations of rentier incomes with a spectrum of internal and external mediating political and social variables have resulted in different courses of transformations during the popular uprisings in the countries of the region.
Theoretical Approach of the Article Although the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa regions have vast differences in terms of area, population, natural resources, historical background, foreign policy orientations, and other such issues, an important common point is observed in these societies that can explain the causes of widespread dissatisfaction leading to the emergence of waves of protest movements in them.
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