ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that oil wealth has been the most important factor in keeping the Arab Spring at bay. Saudi Arabia is a rentier state that uses its oil monies in various ways to bolster its regime. In fact, the Saudi regime drew on oil monies to placate potential dissenters who sought to join their Arab brethren in challenging autocratic rule in Saudi Arabia. Beyond Bahrain, Riyadh has also been proactive in using foreign policy approaches to try to diminish forces that might ignite a domestic uprising, and its oil largesse has helped fund this expensive effort. Iran, which competed with Saudi Arabia for leadership of the Islamic world, wanted once again to destabilize Saudi Arabia and challenge its rule over Islam's holy places. Saudi Arabia is also different from Egypt and other Arab countries in that its institutions are not equally penetrated by royal families or the families of their current or former dictators.
