ABSTRACT

Ruling monarchies have been important historically and may still be important as political archetypes. Yet they have nearly disappeared as forms of actual governance in most regions of the contemporary world, with one notable exception. Kings who hold real power remain in Bahrain, Brunei, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. What these countries have in common is, of course, a majority Muslim population and, other than the tiny island of Brunei in the South China Sea, Arab cultural-linguistic identity.