As jill crystal has shown in the cases of kuwait and qatar, crucial junctures of regime formation shape later political options. In a celebrated passage, adam smith distinguished between. The history of statemaking in the arab middle east shows that rentier states defy the war makes states theory. My intention is to give an indepth analysis of the uae as a rentier state.
The total number of states in the arab middle east thus includes 16 plus the special case of palestine. The project on middle east political science pomeps is a collaborative network that aims to. Rentier states, arab spring research papers academia. The recent overthrow of the shah of iran, the launching of the iranian revolution between 1977 and 1979, came as a sudden surprise to outside observers from the american friends of the shah, to journalists and political pundits, and to social scientists including those, like me, who are supposed to. Mar 25, 2016 it is because qatar is a rentier state. Rentier state theory, arab uprisings, oil and politics, political. Todays examples of rentier states include gulf nations such as qatar, bahrain, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, kuwait, and oman, where governments reap massive international revenues rents from oil exportation, and thus have the.
A theory of late rentierism in the arab states of the. Rentier states article about rentier states by the free. This essentially means that a state receives all of its income from exporting one product that it produces. Saudi arabia is hardly the first country in the region to embark on this process of deoilification. A theory of late rentierism in the arab states of the gulf.
He is primarily known for his seminal contributions to the theory of the rentier state with egyptian economist hazem al beblawi. Abdelfadil, the macro behavior of oil rentier states in the arab. From rentier state to failed state 6 the iraqi state was created in 1920 in the aftermath of world war i. He is primarily known for his seminal contributions to the theory of the rentier state with egyptian economist hazem al beblawi background. And the form it takes are heavily subsidized public services, public utilities, state employment, free education, free healthcare. In postclassical history, the arab world was synonymous with the historic arab empires and caliphates. Rentier state and shia islam in the iranian revolution.
A historical perspective 7 elisabeth longuenesse, sylvia chiffoleau, nabil m. Let us return to the topic of natural resources and institutions. Oct 11, 20 todays examples of rentier states include gulf nations such as qatar, bahrain, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, kuwait, and oman, where governments reap massive international revenues rents from oil exportation, and thus have the financial resources necessary to buy off their citizens. Based on international labor organization data, arab countries will need to create million jobs in the next five years simply to preserve their current level of unemployment, which is one of the highest in the world.
Rentier state theory rst, which seeks to explain the impacts of external payments or rents on state society relations and governance, has been in wide usage for over two decades, and is still routinely cited by scholars writing on the gulf or other parts of the world. Although the arab world is experiencing a state of stability, there are still many social and economical problems threatening the development of many of the arab states. Rentier state theory rst is a political economy theory that seeks to explain state. For an optimal level of economic diversification in a rentier state. Early proponents of the theory such as luciani 1990 and beblawi 1990 made the argument in what is now simple, even simplistic, terms. Stateformation in iraq has followed the path of many developing states in its struggle against a major foreign power great britain and the attempt to create a modern state administration and representative institutions. The political economy of oil and the crisis of the arab. The other argument which has connected resource wealth, specifically oil, and political institutions, is that of the rentier state. Feb 04, 2016 the late rentier state notion captures the desire of uae to engage in an active development policy to engineer predetermined economic outcomes gray, 2011. Rentier economy fueling unemployment and poor job quality.
Mahdavy introduced the concept of rentier states to desig nate a situation under which the states dependence on external rents that have very little to do with the productive effort of the society as a whole is predominant. The rentier stateresource curse narrative and the state of the. The author of the rentier state in the arab world, hazem beblawi, has suggested four characteristics that would determine whether a state is identified as rentier. Last year, the united arab emirates began dismantling their energy subsidies program, taking advantage of the oil price slump to cut benefits at a time when their impact would be felt the least. Is rentier state theory sufficient to explain the politics. The origin of the rentier model in the middle east ifri. The concept of the rentier state, or the rentier economy, applies to a country that relies on substantial external rent in the form of the sale of oil, transit charges suez canal, or tourism. Group conflict and political mobilization in bahrain and the. Giacomo luciani is a leading italian expert on the geopolitics of energy often cited in the media. A rentier state is a state which derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients1. The eastern part of the arab world is known as the mashriq, and the western part as the maghreb. Income measurement in arab states 2 the rentier state in the. After world war ii 193945 the usa became the main international exploiter and chief rentier state. Jun 08, 2015 group conflict and political mobilization in bahrain and the arab gulf.
The development of rentier state theory rst rst first emerged in the context of the literature on the arab state and on the prospects for democratization in the arab world. From rentier economy to rentier mentality in the arab world. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Sep 17, 2016 it is obvious that maraboutism, sultanism, and broadly political culture appear to be structured by the rentier economic system the arab states have generally inherited for centuries and which has extensively affected both the state and citizen in the arab world. The rentier state is a state of parasitic, decaying capitalism v. It is obvious that maraboutism, sultanism, and broadly political culture appear to be structured by the rentier economic system the arab states have generally inherited for centuries and which has extensively affected both the state and citizen in the arab world. This article compares four states from the arab world, two having been exposed to the experience of warmaking iraq and jordan and two not the united arab emirates and tunisia. While rst has been applied to a range of states in the middle east, africa, latin. State formation processes in rentier states columbia university. Elements for definition the purpose of an attempt to define a rentier state is not to reach an abstract notion of such a state but to help elucidate the impact of recent economic developments, in particular the oil phenomenon, on the nature of the state in the arab region. Rentier economy has farreaching political, social, and cultural consequences. A theory of late rentierism in the arab states of the gulf 5 the 1990 invasion of kuwait and the subsequent 19901991 gulf war, the sanctions from 1990 to 2003, and the 2003 iraq war and the political and economic problems that have ensued since.
Group conflict and political mobilization in bahrain and. The concept of a rentier state has gained renewed interest with. The rentier state theory rst and its limits the theory of the rentier state started to emerge in the late 1960s, became fully formed in the 1980s, and has since undergone some adjustments. I held a florin tightly in my hand as i strode down buckingham street towards the station.
When i left the kitchen he was about to recite the opening lines of the piece to my aunt. Group conflict and political mobilization in bahrain and the arab gulf. After four decades of the concepts circulation, the historicity of the rentier state theory clearly requires discussion. Rethinking the rentier state indiana series in middle east studies gengler, justin on. Born of the newfound importance of oilexporting nations in the 1970s and 1980s, the idea of the rentier economy arose in economics as a description of those countries that rely on substantial external rent, the latter defined broadly as a reward for own ership of natural resources, whether strategically located territory, mineral deposits, or, more to present purposes, oil or natural. Although this is useful in understanding the nature of the rent seeking behavior, it is quite simplistic as some rentier states seem to suffer more than. The political economy of oil and the crisis of the arab state. First, rent situation must prevail to the point that it concludes that there really is no such thing as a pure rentier economy.
In a celebrated passage, adam smith distinguished between rent and other sources of income. Before world war i 191418 the major rentier states were great britain, france, and germany. Chapters 2 and 3 provide more specific background, including a survey of the literature on democratization in the arab world, including the relationships between democracy and external interventions, authoritarian regimes, the rentier state, islam, and civil society and an historical survey of oman, focusing on tribalism, social change after. The relationship between the rulers and the uae citizens the state citizen level, and the relationship between the ruling families of the individual emirates the federal level. The aforementioned calls for a deeper understanding of such variations as the classic rentier state theory provides static tenets for rentierism as a one size fits all labeling mechanism. State formation in iraq has followed the path of many developing states in its struggle against a major foreign power great britain and the attempt to create a modern state administration and representative institutions. Countries benefitting from oil and gas rents have been more resilient. The rentier state in the arab world hazem beblawi introduction the concept of a rentier state has gained renewed interest with the advent of the oil era and the emergence of the new arab oilproducing states. The political economy of oil and the crisis of the arab state system by daniel atzori. Achieving this rather modest objective would require average economic growth of 5 percent per year. The paper that follows makes this case, and argues for the concept of a latestage rentier state in the case of the arab states of the gulf.
I told him a second time, he asked me did i know the arabs farewell to his steed. Is rentier state theory sufficient to explain the politics of. In a previous post we saw how there has been a debate about whether or not natural resource wealth undermines democracy. Rentier economy fueling unemployment and poor job quality in. The late rentier state notion captures the desire of uae to engage in an active development policy to engineer predetermined economic outcomes gray, 2011. View rentier state theory research papers on academia. The particular case of gccs countries as rentier state has been at. Political segmentation and diversification in the rentier arab gulf justin gengler a curious fact about the proposition that economic satisfaction breeds political indifference in resourcedependent statesabout thi s rentier state thesisis that for a. Rethinking the rentier state indiana series in middle east studies. He is the author of conspiracy theories in the arab world. The paper begins by outlining the tenets and constraints of orthodox rst, and then makes the case for a more sophisticated understanding of these states rentbased relationships with society, and. The relationship between the rulers and the uae citizens the statecitizen level, and the relationship between the ruling families of the individual emirates the federal level. In a rentier state, the public institutions alone are rentier.
Sources and politics routledge, 2010, as well as various articles and other pieces on middle eastern tourism, oil dynamics, and political language. Rentier state theory and the arab uprisings uluslararas. Rentier state theory rst, which seeks to explain the impacts of external payments or rents on statesociety relations and governance, has been in wide usage for over two decades, and is still routinely cited by scholars writing on the gulf or other parts of the world. He is an adjunct professor at the graduate institute of international and development studies in geneva and scientific advisor of the master in. Briefing the new economic context for the arab world. It also aids in accounting for the more active foreign policy, accounting for the uaes need to protect itself and its rentier wealth from. In the medium and long term, arab societies and economies will experience widespread change on the back of underlying global trends and potential risks. In political science and international relations theory, a rentier state is a state which derives all or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. Although the central economic factor of an abundant reserve of natural resources remains the.
And so we see here the explicit implementation of what we call the arab social contract, the rentier contract is patronage in return for complacency, for political neutrality of the population. The first problem to discuss here is unemployment in arab countries, which is the highest in the world and threatens to spread poverty in the arab world. My intention is to give an in depth analysis of the uae as a rentier state. View rentier states, arab spring research papers on academia. The theoretical articulation of the concepts rentier states and rentier economies took place only recently. The rentler state in the arab world a rentier state. Rentier economy fueling unemployment and poor job quality in the arab world.
The political economy of oil and the crisis of the arab state system by daniel atzori abstract this paper argues that the socalled arab spring is part of a tectonic shift which signals the frailty of the arab state system as such. Since the uae is a federation, i have applied the theory on two levels. The rentier state in the arab world accordingly, an open economy with high foreign trade is not a rentier state, simply because it relies on the outside world, even if it generates its income from natural endowment e. Political segmentation and diversification in the rentier. Rentier state theory rst gained currency in the late 1980s, and remains. The rentier state volume 2 of classical lives volume 2 of nation, state, and integration in the arab world, giacomo luciani, isbn 0709941471, 9780709941477. And the form it takes are heavily subsidized public services, public utilities.
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