RT Article
T1 Dynastic sacredness: Islam and the Arab Spring in Morocco
JF Middle East policy
VO 29
IS 3
SP 112
OP 128
A2 Issaev, Leonid
A2 Zakharov, Andrey
LA English
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1818264773
AB The ruling dynasty of Morocco is one of very few that tracks its royal bloodline back to the Prophet Muhammad himself. Did this lineage contribute to the fact that the North African monarchy was barely touched by the tumultuous Arab Spring of 2011–12? This article challenges such assertions. Despite its divine inception, Moroccan royal power survived the era of modernity solely thanks to the French, who invested in their colony during the protectorate (1912–56). It was France that elevated the royals and allowed for the throne to become the pillar of Moroccan nationalism. This venerable lineage would have been futile had the royal family not learned the sophisticated methods of political struggle against its competitors. The dynasty established a unique system of holding the opposition back in such a way that it simultaneously becomes a bulwark of the state's stability. In addition, the bureaucratization of Islam became a key tool in the Moroccan state-building arsenal: Religious practice can be conducted only in accordance with the government rulebook. In other words, Morocco's present-day stability has nothing to do with religion itself, but rather with politics—and the last North African monarchy might still see an Arab Spring awakening.
NO Literaturhinweise
K1 Herrschaftssystem
K1 Monarchie
K1 Legitimität
K1 Macht
K1 Ressourcen
K1 Dynastie
K1 Politik
K1 Geschichte
K1 Religion
K1 Institutionalisierung
K1 Islam
K1 Politischer Islam
K1 Entwicklung
K1 Tendenz
K1 Marokko
DO 10.1111/mepo.12652