Countries that are rich in national resources, this theory were first hypothesized by hussein mahdavy in 1970. Rentier states and state transformations david waldner department of politics university of virginia and. Abstract this article aims to analyze the implications of the arab uprisings on the rentier state theory rst. Saudi arabia and the global islamic terrorist network. The framework has since been applied to understand the politics of resourcerich countries in latin america, asia and africa, with proponents arguing that rentier states tend t. A rentier state would be one where rent income encompasses most government revenue, and has been discussed in detail earlier in this article. Centrality of rents and rentier state theory rents have been central to shaping the political economy of the gulf corporation council gcc. Oil and the rentier state loyola university chicago. Tiny though it is, the 33island archipelago of bahrain, situated 15 miles off the eastern coast of saudi arabia in the persian gulf, is an ideal location in which to examine the disruptive influence of groupbased political mobilization on the normal function of the rentier state. A state, which derives all, or a substantial portion of its national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. It provides enormous wealth and means of patronage to the rentier state and its joint venture partners, the transnational oil companies. It pro v ides a platform fo r utilizing rentier state theory rst in a noncarbon. In other rentier states, limited protests did not lead to uprisings.
Economic adjustment and reform in the context of a rentier. Is rentier state theory sufficient to explain the politics. A rentier social contract emerges as the creation of artificial employment opportunities and handouts become a means for the government to obtain support and, from this, legitimacy toledo, 20. Journey of egypts first sovereign fund we all have a lot of work to do to create a conducive environment for investment, simplify procedures, fighting bureaucracy.
One point was earned for identifying nigeria as a rentier state, but no point was earned for describing a problem that a rentier state faces and the impact of that problem on economic development. A rentier state is one that derives all or a substantial portion of national revenues from indigenous resources. The rentier state is a political economy theory that seeks to account for state society relations in. Today gulfs oil monarchies, archetypes within the rentier state theory are, in contrast. A rethought definition rentier state theory, asserts that a populations political loyalty can be commoditised and purchased examples of rentier states include. The countrys recent strides towards democracy thus remains a question whose answer has to be sought outside the realm of rentier state theory. Rentier state theory rst gained currency in the late 1980s, and remains widely cited or accepted, as an explanation for the lack of democratization and for economic problems in oil and gasproducing states of the middle east. Hence, this study will target to prove that a critical reading of the. The implications of the rentier state theory regarding the. The response earned no point for the statement that a rentier state is a state in which the government gets help from other nations.
Rentierism, far from being saddled with being the sole explanatory tenet for the entirety of the middle eastern political universe, should instead be treated as a trait of gulf politics introduction. A rentier theory of subnational regimes fiscal federalism, democracy, and authoritarianism in the argentine provinces by carlos gervasoni scholars of political regimes have long noticed that the extent to which citizens of democracies enjoy political rights and freedoms. Fourth, a corollary of the role of the few, in a rentier state the government is the principal recipient of the external rent. This discount cannot be combined with any other discount or promotional offer. A more theoretical approach to rentier state theory in the middle east and international relations. Because rentier state theory insufficiently explains the politics of the uae, a marrying of constructivism and rst are needed to best capture the politics of the uae. The ambiguous effects of oil wealth and oil dependence on violent conflict show all authors.
Rentier state theory, azerbaijan, energy resources, democracy. Pdf this article shall focus on the political aspects of the resource curse theory, in particular the. 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. Over the past decades, theories concerning rentier economies and rentier. The theory of the rentier state started to emerge in the late 1960s, became. In rentier state theory, the state derives most of its revenue from renting resources. Pdf the palestinian authority and the rentier state. From rentier state to failed state 6 the iraqi state was created in 1920 in the aftermath of world war i. A postrentier state is one in which expenditure outstrips rent income, and there is not enough supply of the rent commodity remaining for the deficit to ever be made up. Is rentier state theory sufficient to explain the politics of the uae. Frontiers an obsolescing bargain in a rentier state. It postulates that externallyderived, unproductivelyderived.
These are all important issues that, without doubt, could easily spell a return to armed conflict if they are handled incorrectly. A theory of late rentierism in the arab states of the. Iranian revolution rentier state these keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. Introduction1 the present paper aims to arrive at a set of guidelines that help to study stateformation, state reformation and state deformation processes in the postcolonial states of the arab middle east. In a first section, it will consider the main features that the rentier state theorists have set out and the implications that this theory brings about. A theory of late rentierism in the arab states of the gulf. A critical examination of the rentier theorys validity requires a test of its key assertions. Water free fulltext a rentier state under blockade. An appraisal article pdf available in uluslararasi iliskiler ssci11. Pdf misunderstanding the definition of rentier state. Rentier state theory rst gained currency in the late 1980s, and remains. This evidence heavily implies that the uae qualifies as a rentier state. Download fulltext pdf download fulltext pdf rentier state theory and the arab uprisings.
Rents per capita stay high, no economic diversification comparable to uae or qatar has happened in the country and the economy is dependent almost completely on oil. Near east, near orient publish your bachelors or masters thesis, dissertation, term paper or essay. This paper attempts to address this theoretical deficiency by. The origin of the rentier model in the middle east ifri. This chapter is concerned with african rentier states, a category first coined by an iranian economist hossein mahdavy 1970, writing about the problems of oil dependency in iran. The contributions and limitations of rentier state theory in the gulf were the focus of a workshop convened by. The rentier state theory rst has received renewed academic traction in its ability to explicate. The rentier state theory is also a concern of this study since it is not only the first initiative that aims to define the different structures of those states but also since it opened the way for analyzing these states as exceptional. Economic adjustment and reform in the context of a rentier state bassam fattouh presented at the graduate institute geneva, september 2017 oxford institute for energy studies. Group conflict and political mobilization in bahrain and. Rentier definition of rentier by the free dictionary. Rentier state theory rst remains the dominant literature on statesociety relations in the arab states of the gulf, yet by focusing on case studies of three ostensibly rentier states, qatar, bahrain, and oman, and their experience during the post2011 period, this dissertation challenges assumptions of rentinduced political stagnation. Download saudi arabia and the global islamic terrorist network or read online books in pdf, epub, tuebl, and mobi format.
First, oil revenues are paid to governments in the form of rent. Dating from colonial history, the state has made systematic and sustained efforts to. Rentier state theory grew out of an attempt to understand political development in the oilrich states of the middle east. In a second step, the main limitations of this theory will be elaborated, as well as some of its benefits will be considered. The rentier state is a political economy theory that seeks to account for state. Rentier state theory has long been able to explain the relationship between state and society in the oilrich countries of the gulf. 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. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. In short, it remains the conventional and convenient recourse for assessing this regions economic and sociopolitical developments. Rentier state theory is a politicaleconomic theory that argues resourcerich countries who are economically dependent on concessions paid for natural resource rights are more likely to be financially autonomous from their citizenry. Introduction the focus of this study is on the rentier character of state and economy in relation to capital accumulation during the period of 19601997 in iran.
The city university of new york no representation without taxation. The high levels of consumption have been enabled by qatars significant hydrocarbons wealth, a generous rentier states redistributive water governance, and structural dependence on imported food and food production subsidies. View rentier state theory research papers on academia. A theory of civil conflict and democracy in rentier states. Rentier state theory and the arab uprisings 77 states were defined through three key characteristics. However, to large sections of the local oilbearing communities, the commodity is mainly a source of anxiety and misery.
Development of rentierism posted on march, 2014 by john dudovskiy rentier state theory is a political economy theory that seeks to explain statesociety relations in states that generate a large proportion of their income from rents, or externally. Rentier state and shia islam in the iranian revolution. Rentier state theory rst, which seeks to explain the impacts. With a young, restless population and crumbling oil revenues, the largest of the gulf monarchies needs investment inflows like this one to shake off its rentier economic system and build a more sustainable model. 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. The city university of new york project on middle east. The implications of the rentier state theory regarding the major oilproducing states of the middle east rebekka schliep essay politics international politics region. The rentier theory predicts, firstly, that political opposition in a rentier state is economically motivated, and secondly, that a rentier state will try to buy off all serious opposition. 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. Initial conceptualization of rentier state was based on the impact of externally generated oil revenues on the economic development as. It is rather surprising, however, that there has been little or no discussion on the underlying political economy of sudan as a fragile rentier state and. Rentier state theory claims that resource abundance causes weak and predatory state institutions. Click download or read online button to get saudi arabia and the global islamic terrorist network book now.
The news was primarily featured in the business pages, but the move comes at a critical time for saudi arabia. Yet, by examining informal and formal opposition in qatar, bahrain, and oman since 2011, this article disputes the effectiveness of this cooptation mechanism at the subnational level. Abstractthe oil and gasrich states of the gulf cooperation council have long been treated as exceptional, where distributions of rentbased wealth to society assumedly preclude political dissent. The rentier state theory revisited nishad sanzagiri.
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